Ihe conclusion of an Iranian nuclear agreement, after several months of talks in Vienna, is a “matter of days”, said Saturday the head of European diplomacy, Josep Borrell, on the sidelines of the Doha Forum, in Qatar. “We are very close to it, but there are still some outstanding questions,” he told reporters, as the European Union (EU) coordinator responsible for overseeing the talks with Iran, Enrique Mora , is expected on Saturday evening in Tehran. “I can’t tell you when or how, but it’s a matter of days,” he said.
Iran has been engaged for several months in talks in Vienna with China, Russia, France, the United Kingdom and Germany to revive the 2015 agreement supposed to prevent Tehran from acquiring the atomic bomb. In exchange, the Islamic Republic, which has always denied wanting to acquire atomic weapons, is seeking the lifting of the sanctions which are suffocating its economy. EU coordinator Enrique Mora is due to meet in Tehran on Sunday with Ali Baghéri, Iran’s chief negotiator, according to the official Irna news agency.
“We are at 95% (okay, editor’s note), but the remaining 5% are critical,” said Josep Borrell. “We want to prevent the nuclear program from moving forward,” he insisted, saying he would be “very disappointed” if the deal was not struck. The previous agreement fell apart after Washington’s unilateral withdrawal in 2018, decided by then US President Donald Trump, who reinstated sanctions against Iran. In response, Tehran gradually freed itself from the limits imposed on its nuclear program.
