An agreement on Iran’s nuclear program appears within reach. EU foreign affairs chief Josep Borrell said negotiators are “very close” to renewing the agreement, he said at a conference in Qatar.

Earlier this month, Borrell announced that the text of the agreement was practically ready, but the talks were over. paused due to “external factors”.

Ukraine war delay

The war in Ukraine may have made negotiations more difficult. Moscow wanted US guarantees that sanctions against Russia over the invasion would not affect trade between Russia and Iran. It is unclear whether agreements have now been reached on this subject.

Today, Enrique Mora, who is leading the negotiations in Vienna on behalf of the European Union, is traveling to Tehran to speak with Iran’s chief negotiator. Earlier, Iranian Foreign Minister Amir Abdollahian said that an agreement could be reached in the near term if the United States took a pragmatic approach.

The United States is negotiating indirectly

The goal of the 2015 agreement was to prevent Iran from developing nuclear weapons at all, although Iranian authorities have always denied that they intended to do so. In return, sanctions on Iran were lifted.

Then US President Trump withdrew his country from the agreement in 2018, after which Iran also canceled the agreement. Then the state decided to enrich uranium to a higher purity than allowed under previous agreements.

Under Trump’s successor Biden, talks with Iran over a new agreement have resumed. Last year, Iran, Russia, China, France, Germany, the United States and the United Kingdom negotiated the matter in Vienna. Earlier this month, the head of the International Atomic Energy Agency visited the Iranian capital, Tehran.

Incidentally, the United States indirectly negotiated with Iran in Vienna and has always warned against too much optimism about the renewed nuclear agreement.