diplomacy
Negotiators warn of collapse of Iran nuclear deal
Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi. European negotiators are struggling to save the Iran nuclear deal. Photo: -/Iranian Presidency/dpa
© dpa-infocom GmbH
Western sanctions against Russia for invading Ukraine are now having an impact on saving the nuclear deal with Iran.
In the struggle to save the nuclear deal with Iran, European negotiators warned on Saturday that the deal, which had already been negotiated, would collapse.
The negotiations had to be interrupted shortly before the finish line after new demands from Russia. Russia is demanding guarantees that Western sanctions related to the war against Ukraine will not impede Iran-Russia economic and military ties.
The nuclear agreement is officially called the “Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action” (JCPoA). “Nobody should try to exploit the JCPoA negotiations to obtain assurances that are independent of the JCPoA,” said negotiators from Germany, France and Great Britain on Saturday. You, along with diplomats from Russia and China, have been mediating between Iran and the United States for eleven months. “This carries the risk that the deal will collapse.” The countries called for the agreement to be concluded “with the utmost urgency”.
Under former President Donald Trump, the USA withdrew from the 2015 nuclear agreement and plunged Iran into an economic crisis with new embargoes. Among other things, Tehran reacted by producing highly enriched uranium, which could be processed relatively quickly into weapons-grade material. The new deal provides for the United States to lift its sanctions on Iran. In return, the Islamic Republic is to restrict its nuclear program again in order to prevent the development of nuclear weapons.