Iran said on Monday efforts to revive a 2015 nuclear deal could succeed if the United States took a political decision to meet Tehran’s remaining demands, revolving around Iran’s terrorist designated IRGC organization, as months of negotiations enter what one Iranian diplomat called a “now or never” stage.
The stakes are high since the failure of 10 months of talks would carry the risk of a fresh regional war and the imposition of additional harsh sanctions on Iran by the West.
“Reaching a good deal is possible … three key issues still remain to be resolved. The U.S. and European powers have not taken political decisions on these major issues,” Iran’s Foreign Ministry spokesperson Saeed Khatibzadeh told a weekly news conference.
France’s foreign ministry said on Monday that it was urgent to conclude the talks this week.
Iran’s lead nuclear negotiator Ali Bagheri Kani, who flew to Tehran last week for consultations about the final draft of the deal, met the European Union’s Enrique Mora, who coordinates the talks in Vienna, on Monday.
Two sources close to the talks in Vienna said that Iran had submitted new demands, while continuing to insist on existing ones, including the removal of a U.S. foreign terrorist organization (FTO) designation against Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC).
“Iran’s stance after Bagheri’s trip to Tehran has become even more uncompromising …. they now insist on the removal of sanctions on the IRGC and want to open issues that had already been agreed,” one of the sources said.
Iran has previously said that removing the terrorist designated IRGC from the list was under discussion. Iranian officials did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the matter.
Tehran also insists the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) drop its claims about Tehran’s nuclear work, objecting to an assertion by the U.N. nuclear watchdog last year that Tehran had failed to fully explain the presence of uranium traces found at several undeclared sites.
Source » iranbriefing