Talks to revive the Iran nuclear deal paused Friday after Russia upended negotiations with a sudden demand for a decrease in sanctions related to its military invasion in Ukraine.
News that talks would need to be halted came in a tweet from Josep Borrell, the European Union’s foreign policy chief who acted as coordinator for the talks. Borrell declined to reference Moscow’s new ultimatum when announcing the pause, instead blaming “external factors.”
“A pause in #ViennaTalks is needed, due to external factors,” he tweeted. “A final text is essentially ready and on the table. As coordinator, I will, with my team, continue to be in touch with all #JCPOA participants and the U.S. to overcome the current situation and to close the agreement.”
Russia, which is serving as a negotiator on behalf of Iran, brought talks to a standstill this week by tying the outcome of the talks to sanctions Moscow is facing in response to it’s efforts to overtake Ukraine.
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The top EU negotiator offered no timeline for when the talks, which have been taking place in Vienna, would restart. An Iranian representative discussing the pause on Twitter framed it in a positive light.
“Pause in #ViennaTalks could be a momentum for resolving any remaining issue and a final return. Successful conclusion of talks will be the main focus of all,” Saeed Khatibzadeh, Iran’s Foreign Ministry spokesman, tweeted Friday. “No external factor will affect our joint will to go forward for a collective agreement.”
Like Borrell, Khatibzadeh also did not identify the “external” issues at play.
The Obama administration brokered the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action in 2015. The accord reduced sanctions against Iran in exchange for the country reducing its stockpile of enriched uranium needed to fuel nuclear weapons.
It also capped the fissile purity at which Tehran could refine uranium at 3.67%, but it did not include limitations on delivery systems and other checks on Iran being able to produce a nuclear bomb when the deal expires.
The Trump administration withdrew the United States from the pact in 2018, with the then-commander in chief arguing that “America will not be held hostage to nuclear blackmail.”
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Iran began breaching the deal shortly after, as tensions increased between Washington and Tehran.
President Joe Biden pledged he would reenter the 2015 deal “as a starting point for follow-on negotiations,” adding that he would only support doing so if Iran pledged to follow strict compliance measures.
