France Says Iran Has Days To Decide On The Nuclear Issue
France has warned of a “serious crisis” if agreement is not reached in Vienna within days over reviving the 2015 Iran nuclear deal.
France has warned of a “serious crisis” if agreement is not reached in Vienna within days over reviving the 2015 Iran nuclear deal.
Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian told the Senate Wednesday that a “tipping point” had been reached. “It's not a matter of weeks, it's a matter of days,” he said. “Political decisions are needed from the Iranians. Either they trigger a serious crisis in the coming days… or they accept an agreement that respects the interests of all the parties.”
Le Drian told the senate that France and other world powers – China, Germany, Russia, the United Kingdom and the United States – were in agreement on the outlines of how to restore the 2015 JCPOA (Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action).
"We are coming to the moment of truth,” he said. “If we want Iran to respect its (nuclear) non-proliferation commitments and in exchange for the United States to lift sanctions, there has to be something left to do it.”
In an interview with the Financial Times published earlier Wednesday, Iran’s Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian suggested the US Congress should issue a “political statement” to reassure Iran it would not again leave the JCPOA, as the US did in 2018.
While the US puts the onus on Iran to reverse steps since 2019 expanding its nuclear program, Iran has argued the US must respect its commitments under the JCPOA, lifting ‘maximum pressure’ sanctions, before it re-joins JCPOA structures.
Mohsen Jalilvand has said in an interview with Aftab News website that Iran might fall victim to the Ukrainian developments and stressed that the only way to prevent this is holding direct talks with the United States rather than counting on Russia as a mediator between Tehran and Washington. Meanwhile, Jalilvand warned that Russia might take advantage of the situation.
The commentator agreed with Aftab News that a Russian attack on Ukraine seems to be inevitable and such an attack can leave a destructive impact on the Islamic Republic's diplomacy in Vienna. He said that Belarus, China and Iran support Russia in the conflict with Ukraine.
Jalilvand said that a war in Ukraine will lead to the total collapse of the negotiations in Vienna. He added that Russia might also use the Iran card in Vienna adding that "Russia might sell Iran out for concessions."
Meanwhile, Foreign Policy Commentator and former diplomat Kourosh Ahmadi said in an interview with Entekhab news website that the United States might soften its position in the Vienna negotiations to have more time to focus on the possibility of a Russian attack on Ukraine.
But he disagreed with Jalilvand on how far a Russian attack can impede talks in Vienna. He said the impact of the Ukrainian crisis on the nuclear negotiations is likely to be minimal and lead to minor disruptions and delays. He added that both the United States and Russia have said before that they have shared interests in the revival of the JCPOA.
Ahmadi reminded that the 2014 occupation of the Crimea took place in the middle of Iran's nuclear negotiations with the P5+1. But the overall impact on the negotiations was minimal. "Whatever Moscow's position, it cannot have a determining impact on the nuclear talks.," Ahmadi said.
Ahmadi said that it is unlikely that the Ukrainian crisis would lead to an all-out classic war. "It is more likely to be a limited operation like what happened in 2014, and not like the occupation of Afghanistan in 1979," he said.
Furthermore, he doubted that Iran would openly support such an attack, reminding that Tehran has not endorsed the 2014 Russian occupation of the Crimea.
He added that "if Iran and America have the political will to come to an agreement, other JCPOA member states can only be facilitators. Otherwise, they will be marginalized. On the other hand, Russia cannot afford not to be part of a possible agreement in Vienna." Ahmadi added that during the past three months Russia has always tried to moderate Iran's positions in Vienna.
In another development, reformist website Zeitoon quoted the former head of the Iranian Parliament's National Security and Foreign Relations committee Heshmatollah Falahatpisheh as saying that the Russians are using Iran as a “barrier” in their confrontation with the West over Ukraine.
Falahatpisheh said: "Based on its interests, Russia is using Iran as a barrier in its confrontation with the United States. Moscow is likely to sell the JCPOA for Ukraine. However, Iranian officials wrongly believe that China and Russia are Iran's strategic allies. This comes while strategic alliance does not mean anything in today's world."
