europeans Archives - Iran News Daily

Europeans’ Lack of Initiative Drags Down Vienna Talks

mahla — Sat, 04 Dec 2021 07:09:11 +0000

TEHRAN (Iran News) – The website of Iran’s top security body says the Europeans’ lack of initiative in the face of the Iranian team’s “groundbreaking” proposals is dragging down negotiations in Vienna.

Lead negotiator Ali Baqeri-Kani announced Thursday that Iran has submitted two proposed drafts to the other parties concerning the removal of U.S. sanctions and Tehran’s nuclear commitments and is about to put forward a third draft.

European and Iranian officials were quoted as saying that a formal meeting in a format known as the Joint Commission would be held on Friday to decide on the continuation of the negotiation process.

“In the third document to be presented to the other parties, Iran will state its views and proposals with regard to the verification period of removing sanctions,” Nour News, which is affiliated to Iran’s Supreme National Security Council (SNSC), cited Baqeri-Kani as saying.

“The presentation of two documents on the removal of sanctions and nuclear activities by the Iranian delegation and the plan to put forward a third document is a clear and firm proof that Iran has not only entered the Vienna negotiation process by sending a full team of experts, but it has also foreseen all the necessary arrangements for pursuing constructive and result-oriented negotiations by presenting groundbreaking initiatives,” it wrote.

“This is important because the Western side of the P4+1 group, which is following Washington’s will, has concentrated on a blame game launched even before the start of this round of talks and by relying on heavy psychological operations, it has made every effort to blame Iran for a possible disagreement because it lacks the willpower to reach an agreement,” it added.

According to Nour News, the Western countries which were adamantly pressing for initial drafts in the previous six rounds of negotiations have not put any initiative on the negotiating table and practically slowed down the negotiation process.

“It should be noted that although Iran has stated from the beginning that achieving a good agreement will not be sacrificed for speed in the negotiations, the unpreparedness of the European parties has practically slowed down the negotiation process for no reason and paralyzed the way forward,” it said.

The stalled talks resumed on Monday after a months-long hiatus, during which a new government took over in Tehran.

Iran has maintained that the revival of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), as the Iran nuclear deal is called, would require the U.S. to remove its sanctions on Tehran.

Besides Iran, the remaining parties to the deal – Russia, China, France, Britain, and Germany – have sent their representatives to Vienna for the talks.

On Friday, reports said the Europeans wanted to return to their capitals for consultations after four days of negotiations.

“Given the unwillingness of the Western parties to advance professional, groundbreaking and outcome-oriented negotiations, it seems that we must, as in the past, anticipate an escalation in their blame game against Iran,” Nour News said.

Meanwhile Bagheri Kani said on Thursday that a third draft had not been submitted yet in addition to the two drafts presented to the opposing parties in JCPOA on Wednesday night.

In response to the question that in the two drafts presented by Iran to the other parties, whether sanctions will be lifted step by step or they are going to be removed altogether, he clarified, the process is not a step by step one.

Bagheri also mentioned the duration of the verification of lifting the sanctions: “Iran has prepared three drafts; the third one has not been delivered to the other side yet.”

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Europeans Killed the Time With INSTEX

reporter 1222 — Mon, 25 Jan 2021 08:09:47 +0000

TEHRAN (Iran News) – Head of the Iran-Switzerland Chamber of Commerce believes Europeans killed the time with their financial mechanism of INSTEX after the JCPOA and pull out of the U.S. from the deal, adding that time is limited for resolving banking problem and FATF issue.

Speaking to ILNA, Sharif Nezam Mafi said the U.S. should return to the JCPOA and the FATF dispute should also be resolved in order that banks could work with most of the banks in the world and Iranian businessmen could continue their trade with lesser costs. He further said but this will also need a range of time because 3 years and a half years later the U.S. will hold another presidential election and one should wait and see whether Donald Trump or his fans will come to power or not.

On the failure of the financial mechanism of INSTEX, he said the reason which made the mechanism fail was that European parties launched the mechanism finally to buy time and not to have banking transactions. He further said so it is clear that there has been no other reason for the failure but the passiveness and lack of political will by the European parties.

Sharif Mafi noted that four years are spent on a financial system and ultimately it does not function is strange especially regarding the Europeans which have modern and state-of-art banking systems. He added perhaps, in the beginning, they had decided to launch the mechanism to resolve the problems but due to its complication they decided to let it alone and it indicates that there has been no strong will behind it.

On resolving the banking problems of Iran, he said first the U.S. should return to the JCPOA and the problem of FATF is solved in order that our banks can work with international banks and businessmen can reduce the cost of their trade but it needs a range of time because 3 years and a half later Trump and his fans may come to power and if it happens, again Iran will see more pressure on its banking system.

Sharif Mafi went on to say that since JCPOA has not been approved by in the U.S. Senate and it is just a government executive treaty if Joe Biden returns to the JCPOA, the next president may once again pull out of it and we have seen how Trump easily did it once.

He said he thinks one of the demands of Iranians from the U.S. will be the approval of the JCPOA in the Senate for more guarantee on its implementation because if the JCPOA is to be left or rejoined every four years after arrival or departure of a president in the U.S., nobody will take it seriously.

On Switzerland’s Humanitarian Trade Agreement (SHTA), he said since the restrictions of the U.S. and FATF are valid, the SHTA is still working, adding that SHTA is not an institute like INSTEX but it is a channel for issuing a certain series of licensees. He noted if Biden rejoins the JCPOA or the FATF problem is resolved, these licenses will still be required but the number of banks would change and instead of one bank, six or seven banks would be involved in working with Iran.

He expressed hope that by the departure of Trump, countries like South Korea, Iraq, China, and Japan which had blocked Iran’s funds in their banks because of the Trump Administration would release them.

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Iran Urges Europeans Not to Appease US

reporter 1222 — Wed, 08 Jul 2020 06:11:39 +0000

TEHRAN (Iran News) – Iran’s government spokesman Ali Rabiei urged European countries not to continue the policy of appeasement of the United States because Washington’s demands know no boundaries.

Asked about the consequences of Europeans’ possible cooperation with the United States overextension of Iran arms embargo, Rabiei said that all the European countries know that the policy of appeasement of the US is a failed policy because the US demands know no boundaries, IRNA reported.

“We expect the Europeans not to continue this policy. By doing so, they are endangering the JCPOA and international peace, and further undermining Europe’s credibility as an independent actor”, he said.

He stressed that the Islamic Republic is concerned about the stance taken by the three European countries (Britain, Germany, and France) in the recent United Nations Security Council meeting on the issue of Iran arms embargo.

The United States has formally asked the 15-member Security Council to extend the UN embargo, which is set to expire on October 18 under the UN Security Council Resolution 2231, which enshrined the 2015 nuclear deal between Tehran and world powers.

On June 30, US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo called for the arms embargo on Iran to be extended indefinitely, but his appeal fell flat at the United Nations Security Council, where Russia and China rejected it outright and close allies of the US were ambivalent.

Earlier, three European signatories to the Iran nuclear deal — Britain, France, and Germany – had expressed concern about lifting of Iran arms embargo.

“We recall that the EU embargoes on conventional arms exports and missile technology will remain in force until 2023,” they said.

Russia and China have said they oppose the US move and have questioned Washington’s right to use a disputed legal move to force a return of UN sanctions on Iran.

“Having quit the JCPOA, the US is no longer a participant and has no right to trigger a snapback at the Security Council,” Chinese envoy Zhang Jun told the Security Council session.

The US unilaterally pulled out of the nuclear agreement in May 2018 and illegally reimposed sanctions as part of what it calls a “maximum pressure” campaign on Iran.

Washington has claimed that it can trigger a “snapback” mechanism on UN sanctions and the arms embargo because it is still a signatory to the agreement in 2015.

Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif told the Security Council the removal of arms restrictions was “an inseparable part” of the nuclear deal.

“Any attempt to change or amend the agreed timetable is thus tantamount to undermining Resolution 2231 in its entirety,” he said.

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Ryabkov: trigger mechanism may ruin JCPOA

reporter 1222 — Wed, 15 Jan 2020 11:13:55 +0000

TEHRAN (Iran News) – Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Ryabkov expressed concerns over the decision of the European signatories to the JCPOA to trigger dispute mechanism.

Possible activation of the JCPOA trigger mechanism may ruin the deal, said Ryabkov, Interfax reported on Wednesday.

He described E3’s decision to launch the JCPOA dispute resolution mechanism as politically erroneous, adding that the measure seriously decreases the chance of preserving JCPOA.

The remarks come as France, Britain, and Germany on Tuesday announced their decision to trigger the dispute mechanism in the 2015 Iran nuclear deal, known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA).

Reacting to the development, the Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman, Abbas Mousavi, said “In fact, the European parties are announcing the beginning of process of settlement of disputes and activation of Article 36 of the JCPOA while the article has been referred to by the Islamic Republic of Iran long ago, and no new situation will be created.”

“However, should the Europeans –who have claimed in the statement that they have taken such measure with goodwill and with the purpose of saving the JCPOA- keep to the path of submissiveness to the US or intend to abuse the process of settlement of disputes in the JCPOA Joint Commission instead of trying to honor their commitments and making Iran benefit from the effects of removal of the sanctions in accordance with the Annex II of the JCPOA, they will have to prepare themselves to accept its consequences as well, about which they have been already reminded via appropriate channels,” the spokesman added.

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US policies, Europeans’ dependency cause probable JCPOA death

reporter 1222 — Thu, 26 Dec 2019 12:44:51 +0000

TEHRAN (Iran News) – Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Ryabkov named US policies against Iran and reliance of EU countries on the US as the main causes for a low chance of JCPOA survival.

“I conclude that [the US’] ‘maximum pressure’ on Iran will go on, accordingly the chance for preserving and fully implementing JCPOA in future will be low,” he said expressing concern about the issue.

“We will negotiate the issue with our Iranian friends, while we fully understand the country’s reasons for scaling down their JCPOA commitments,” he added.

The Russian official reiterated that his country will back all the measures taken to survive Iran’s nuclear deal.

He underlined that the US policies are the main culprit for killing JCPOA.

Iranian President Hassan Rouhani said on Wednesday that Tehran has not closed the window of dialogue and will be ready for talks if other parties fulfill their past commitments.

“Americans have been seeking to pretend that they are ready to talk but it is Iran that is not coming to the negotiation table; this was a plot that we managed to foil both in the United Nations [General Assembly in Sep.] and in the recent trip to Japan where we announce that we have no problem in talking to anybody,” Rouhani said.

“If P5+1 countries show determination in honoring their commitments and seek to compensate their past mistakes, we will be ready for talks,” he said, adding that Iran has never believed this path to be irreversible.

The US, under the Trump administration, has imposed unilateral sanctions on Iran’s economy after withdrawing from the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) in May 2018. Washington hopes for a better deal with Tehran but Iran has always highlighted that there will be no negotiations until unfair sanctions are removed and Washington fulfills its commitments under the UN-endorsed JCPOA.

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Europeans form united front to defend nuclear deal

reporter 1222 — Thu, 30 Nov 2017 06:01:05 +0000

Some of the United States’ closest allies, the UK, Germany and France, have formed a united front to defend the 2015 nuclear deal, CNN reported on Tuesday.

Without being invited, they’ve organized a joint team to travel to Washington this week, setting up their own meetings to ramp up the pressure on the U.S., according to a senior diplomatic source from one of the participating countries.

The team of senior European diplomats will meet with members of Congress, the State Department and possibly at the White House on Thursday and Friday, the source said.

The visit continues an extended pressure campaign by key European nations, which has included visits from senior figures, including the EU foreign policy chief and UK foreign secretary, to protect the Iran nuclear deal in the face of hostility from President Donald Trump, who has declared he wants the agreement changed or canceled.

The nuclear agreement was signed by Iran, the European Union, Germany and the five permanent members of the UN Security Council – the United States, Britain, France, China and Russia – in July 2015. It took effect in January 2016.

The U.S. under the Trump administration is the only party which has made repeated attacks against the nuclear deal. In his new Iran strategy declared on October 13, Trump decertified the nuclear deal and asked Congress to decide about the fate of the agreement.

The U.S. administration has called for a renegotiation of the nuclear agreement, a request vehemently rejected by all other parties.

According to the nuclear agreement, officially called the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, Tehran agreed to put limits on its nuclear activities in exchange for termination of economic and financial sanctions.

The International Atomic Energy Agency, the United Nations’ nuclear watchdog, has been tasked to monitor Iran’s compliance to the deal.

Since the deal went into effect in January 2016 the IAEA has regularly issued nine reports each time confirming Iran’s adherence to the international deal.

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