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After sixteen months of intense negotiations, the negotiations between Iran, the EU, China, Russia, France, Germany and, indirectly, with the United States, are reaching their final stretch. The objective is to revive the 2015 nuclear agreement, abandoned in 2018 by Donald Trump. Seyed Mohammad Marandi, the main adviser to the Iranian negotiating team, speaks exclusively to RFI and France 24.
Iran responded, ten days ago, to the “final” text presented by the European Union, by setting new conditions. The United States finally gave its answer. Why was all this delay taken by Washington to react ?
I think the United States has its internal problems. There is pressure from the Israeli regime and its supporters in the United States. The fact that the head of European diplomacy expressed his satisfaction, saying that Iran’s response was reasonable, I think is very interesting for Iran. The United States views the demands of the Israeli regime as a priority, as the entire European Union struggles with the energy crisis, which will become even worse in the coming months. The United States seems to want to ignore this crisis to please the Israelis.
And if the American response was not positive, what will happen ?
If the United States does not accept the Iranian conditions, there will be no agreement. And that will mean a very cold winter for Europe. And that will mean that Iran will continue its peaceful nuclear program at full speed.
International Atomic Energy Agency chief Rafael Grossi says Iran must provide answers to allow his agency to close the three open files relating to the past, and that it cannot do so under pressure from member countries. Will this delay the conclusion of the agreement ?
False accusations against Iran are politicized. And he knows it perfectly. Iran has more than cooperated with the Agency in the past. The IAEA Board of Governors is dominated by Western countries. It is not a technical body, but a political body. Iran says it wants to cooperate as in the past, but we must put an end to the false accusations. Otherwise, we will not be able to move towards an agreement. If the United States and its allies continue to politicize this body, there will be no agreement. If they act reasonably and technically, and allow the technical experts to have the final say on the cases, then there will be an agreement.
Does this mean that a deal can be pushed back beyond the US election in November?
I do not know.
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