by Xinhua writer Gao Wencheng
TEHRAN, March 12 (Xinhua) -- Iran and the United States have reiterated their willingness for a final agreement in the Vienna talks aimed at restoring the Iran nuclear deal after parties involved announced on Friday a pause in the international negotiations.
The break has complicated the prospect of the 11-month-long talks but a return to the 2015 nuclear pact, formally known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), is still possible if diplomats can address the concerns from different parties, analysts said.
PAUSE IN VIENNA
The pause was first announced in a tweet by Josep Borrell, the European Union's foreign policy chief, who said a pause is needed in the talks for what he called "external factors."
While Borrell did not elaborate on the external causes, Western media has immediately linked it to Russia's new demands. Last Saturday, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov demanded guarantees from the United States that Moscow's trade with Iran would not be affected by sanctions imposed on Russia over its tensions with Ukraine. But such a demand has been rejected by the United States.
Also, "nobody should seek to exploit JCPOA negotiations to obtain assurances that are separate to the JCPOA," France, Britain, and Germany said in a joint statement on Saturday, referring to Russia's recent demands.
In response, Russia's chief negotiator to the Vienna talks Mikhail Ulyanov dismissed the efforts to put all the blame for the prolongation of the negotiations on his country.
"We are in favor of earliest conclusion of the talks and we are doing our best but I repeat once again the conclusion does not depend on Russia only. Objectively there are others who need to settle their issues between themselves," he told reporters.
While the nuclear negotiations "were slow due to the American reluctance to make a political decision on issues remaining within Iran's red lines, and Western officials and media falsely accusing Iran of blocking the agreement. Russia's request became a new reason to add to American excuses," Nour News, a website close to Iran's Supreme National Security Council, wrote recently.
COMMITMENT FOR RETURN
"Pause in Vienna Talks could be a momentum for resolving any remaining issue and a final return," Iran's Foreign Ministry spokesman Saeed Khatibzadeh tweeted on Friday
"Successful conclusion of talks will be the main focus of all," he said. "No external factor will affect our joint will to go forward for a collective agreement."
For its part, Washington also said it stays open to a prompt return to mutual compliance with the JCPOA despite the pause.
"There will need to be decisions made in places like Tehran and Moscow," U.S. State Department spokesperson Ned Price told reporters at a press briefing. "If that political will is there, if that seriousness of purpose is there, we remain confident that we can achieve a mutual return to compliance in fairly short order."
Analysts pointed out that the United States hopes to reach a nuclear deal with Iran to speed up its withdrawal from the Middle East, while Iran is counting on an end to sanctions to boost its battered economy.
On the basis of the major driving forces, the recent hike in energy prices has added new willingness for both sides to return to the Iran nuclear accord, they added.
Liu Lanyu, an Iran expert at the Institute for International and Area Studies of China's Tsinghua University, told Xinhua that the United States now needs to supply more oil to the world to stabilize prices, and Iran also wants to take this opportunity to quickly return to the international crude oil market.
HOPE FOR AGREEMENT
Enrique Mora, the EU's coordinator for the Vienna talks, told the media that "the result is that we are almost there, that we are in a text in which almost everything is done. I would tell you that we are at the limit of negotiating footnotes, so you can imagine how advanced we are."
"In order to maintain, to keep this spirit, this good spirit, this good atmospheric, it is better to pause," Mora said, adding he hopes negotiators will overcome the situation "the sooner the better, and "end our negotiations successfully and I think I hope it will take very very soon."
China's Permanent Representative to the United Nations in Vienna Wang Qun said on Friday that the concerns and demands of all parties to the Iran nuclear talks must be addressed properly and that political dialogue and negotiations are the only solution.
Wang, China's chief negotiator, said his country calls on all parties to intensify diplomatic efforts during the recess and clear all obstacles through dialogue and negotiations to reach a deal.
The latest developments may cause delays in the negotiating process, but it is unlikely to have a fundamental impact on the prospect of a final agreement, Fan Hongda, a professor at the Middle East Studies Institute of Shanghai International Studies University in China.
If all parties can quickly resolve the remaining issues during this adjournment, they can soon return to Vienna to complete the Iranian nuclear negotiations, Liu from Tsinghua University said. ■
