No nuclear deal this week, says Iran negotiator
Several analysts have already said it was unlikely any deal would be concluded before the Iranian election was over
Published: 04:06 PM,Jun 13,2021 | EDITED : 08:06 PM,Jun 13,2021
Iran's Deputy Foreign Minister, Abbas Araghchi, leaves a meeting of the Joint Commission of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action in Vienna. - Reuters
VIENNA: Iran's chief negotiator at international talks on its nuclear programme said late on Saturday he did not think they could conclude this week, ahead of the country's June 18 presidential election.
Russia's representative at the talks made a similar point after emerging from talks in the Austrian capital Vienna, saying a few more weeks were required to finalise the existing text, according to a statement on Twitter. 'Personally, I don't think that we can manage to reach a conclusion this week,' Iran's Abbas Aragchi told the Iranian state broadcaster after the sixth round of talks resumed in Vienna.
Iranians will vote on June 18 to elect a successor to President Hassan Rouhani, who has served the maximum two consecutive four-year terms allowed by the constitution.
Several analysts have already said it was unlikely any deal would be concluded before the election was over.
Representatives from Britain, China, France, Germany, Russia and Iran are meeting in Vienna to bring the US back to the Iran nuclear deal and Tehran back into compliance with it.
The 2015 landmark accord has been hanging by a thread since US President Donald Trump took the United States out of the deal in 2018 and re-imposed sanctions. That led Tehran to step up its nuclear activities, long curtailed by the deal.
US President Joe Biden has indicated a willingness to rejoin the agreement once it is sure Iran is willing to respect its commitments.
Negotiators from the US are taking part indirectly in the EU-chaired discussions in Vienna.
Reuters reports that the sixth round of talks began as usual with a meeting of remaining parties to the deal - Iran, Russia, China, France, Britain, Germany and the European Union - in the basement of a luxury hotel.
The US delegation to the talks, known as the Joint Commission of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPoA), is based in a hotel across the street as Iran refuses face-to-face meetings.
The talks' chief coordinator, EU foreign policy official Enrique Mora, who is leading the shuttle diplomacy between Iran and the United States, has said he expects a deal in this round of talks. Other envoys, however, are more cautious, saying many difficult issues are yet to be resolved.
'We are making progress but the negotiations are intense and a number of issues (remain), including on how steps are to be implemented,' an EU spokesman said in a statement to reporters, adding that the aim was 'to find ways to get very close to a final agreement in the coming days'.
The top Iranian negotiator, Abbas Araqchi, suggested it was unlikely the talks would conclude before Iran's presidential election on Friday.
'I don't think we will be able to reach a final conclusion in Vienna this week,' Iranian state media quoted Araqchi as saying.
The deal, or JCPoA, imposed strict limits on Iran's nuclear activities designed to extend the time Tehran would need to obtain enough fissile material for a nuclear weapon, if it chose to, to at least a year from two to three months.
Iran denies ever pursuing nuclear weapons, saying its aims are solely peaceful.
President Donald Trump pulled the United States out of the deal in 2018 and reimposed economic sanctions lifted by the deal. Iran responded by breaching many of those limits, producing more enriched uranium than allowed and enriching to higher purity levels, recently to near weapons grade.
'Playing for time is in no-one's interest,' German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas, who is not at the talks, said urging all sides to show flexibility and pragmatism. China's top envoy said the main sticking point was US sanctions. 'Our message to them (the United States) is that they should stop shilly-shallying by moving decisively to sanction-lifting,' China's ambassador to the UN nuclear watchdog, Wang Qun, told reporters. - AFP/Reuters
Russia's representative at the talks made a similar point after emerging from talks in the Austrian capital Vienna, saying a few more weeks were required to finalise the existing text, according to a statement on Twitter. 'Personally, I don't think that we can manage to reach a conclusion this week,' Iran's Abbas Aragchi told the Iranian state broadcaster after the sixth round of talks resumed in Vienna.
Iranians will vote on June 18 to elect a successor to President Hassan Rouhani, who has served the maximum two consecutive four-year terms allowed by the constitution.
Several analysts have already said it was unlikely any deal would be concluded before the election was over.
Representatives from Britain, China, France, Germany, Russia and Iran are meeting in Vienna to bring the US back to the Iran nuclear deal and Tehran back into compliance with it.
The 2015 landmark accord has been hanging by a thread since US President Donald Trump took the United States out of the deal in 2018 and re-imposed sanctions. That led Tehran to step up its nuclear activities, long curtailed by the deal.
US President Joe Biden has indicated a willingness to rejoin the agreement once it is sure Iran is willing to respect its commitments.
Negotiators from the US are taking part indirectly in the EU-chaired discussions in Vienna.
Reuters reports that the sixth round of talks began as usual with a meeting of remaining parties to the deal - Iran, Russia, China, France, Britain, Germany and the European Union - in the basement of a luxury hotel.
The US delegation to the talks, known as the Joint Commission of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPoA), is based in a hotel across the street as Iran refuses face-to-face meetings.
The talks' chief coordinator, EU foreign policy official Enrique Mora, who is leading the shuttle diplomacy between Iran and the United States, has said he expects a deal in this round of talks. Other envoys, however, are more cautious, saying many difficult issues are yet to be resolved.
'We are making progress but the negotiations are intense and a number of issues (remain), including on how steps are to be implemented,' an EU spokesman said in a statement to reporters, adding that the aim was 'to find ways to get very close to a final agreement in the coming days'.
The top Iranian negotiator, Abbas Araqchi, suggested it was unlikely the talks would conclude before Iran's presidential election on Friday.
'I don't think we will be able to reach a final conclusion in Vienna this week,' Iranian state media quoted Araqchi as saying.
The deal, or JCPoA, imposed strict limits on Iran's nuclear activities designed to extend the time Tehran would need to obtain enough fissile material for a nuclear weapon, if it chose to, to at least a year from two to three months.
Iran denies ever pursuing nuclear weapons, saying its aims are solely peaceful.
President Donald Trump pulled the United States out of the deal in 2018 and reimposed economic sanctions lifted by the deal. Iran responded by breaching many of those limits, producing more enriched uranium than allowed and enriching to higher purity levels, recently to near weapons grade.
'Playing for time is in no-one's interest,' German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas, who is not at the talks, said urging all sides to show flexibility and pragmatism. China's top envoy said the main sticking point was US sanctions. 'Our message to them (the United States) is that they should stop shilly-shallying by moving decisively to sanction-lifting,' China's ambassador to the UN nuclear watchdog, Wang Qun, told reporters. - AFP/Reuters