“The eighth round of the Vienna negotiations has just begun,” tweeted Alain Matton, a spokesman for the European Union. “It will be very difficult, it will be difficult. Tough political decisions will have to be made both in Tehran and in Washington,” summarized Enrique Mora, political director of the European External Action Service and coordinator of negotiations.

This, which is trying to save the Iran nuclear deal reached in 2015, resumed on Monday (12/27/2021) in Vienna. According to Tehran, they should aim at lifting US sanctions and “guarantees” that Washington will return to the pact.

“The most important thing for us is to get to the point where we can verify that Iranian oil is sold easily and seamlessly, that the oil money reaches Iranian bank accounts in foreign currency, and that we can benefit from all the proceeds in a variety of scenarios. economy,” Iranian Foreign Minister Hosein Amir-Abdollahian said before the meeting.

Directly participating in the meeting were Germany, France, Britain, China, Russia and Iran, member states of the JCPOA, the technical name of the agreement Iran promised in 2015 to limit the scope and size of its nuclear program, to move from a progressive lifting of sanctions that have stifled its economy. . The United States, which left the agreement in 2018 during Donald Trump’s presidency, is now poised to return to the pact and resume indirect contact with the high-level delegation in Vienna, exchanging documents and messages with Iran through intermediaries.

The United States has warned Iran of its position against continuing the discussions, although it has not yet issued an ultimatum. There are only “a few weeks” left to salvage the Iran nuclear deal if Iran continues to expand its atomic activity at current levels, US negotiator Rob Malley said last week, warning of a “crisis” in the event of a diplomatic failure. .

In the same vein, France, Germany and England declared themselves: “Time is running out,” they say. “In the absence of rapid progress, given the rapid progress of Iran’s nuclear program, the agreement will soon become dead paper,” warned the senior official.

The head of Iran’s Atomic Energy Organization, Mohamad Eslami, assured on Saturday that Iran has no intention of enriching uranium to more than 60%, even if negotiations fail. Russia’s ambassador to the United Nations in Vienna, Mikhail Ulyanov, called this statement a “positive message.”

Meanwhile, Israel’s head of diplomacy, Yair Lapid, whose country fears that Iran, an enemy nation, will equip itself with atomic weapons, stated on Monday that “stopping Tehran’s nuclear program” was the “first challenge to Israeli policy”. Israel. Israel’s security and exterior.” “We prefer to act through international cooperation, but if necessary, we will defend ourselves,” he added.

lgc (afp / efe)