Brussels, 19/05/2014 (Agence Europe) - The negotiations on the Iranian nuclear programme continued in Vienna from 13 to 16 May between the E3+3 (Germany, France, the United Kingdom and China, the United States and Russia), seemingly without any major progress being made. The spokesperson to the High Representative, Michael Mann, announced on Monday 19 May that there had been three days of “intense negotiations” and “hard work”, and that the negotiations have been “complex and detailed” (our translation). “A lot of work has been done, but there is still a lot of work left to do over the next weeks and months”, Mann explained. “We are trying to put together an agreement”, he added. An American representative described the talks as “slow and difficult”. “Considerable gaps remain between the positions of the two parties. (…) We are concerned that no progress has been made and the clock is ticking”, he explained, quoted by the media. The Iranian Foreign Minister, Mohammad Javad Zarif, described the discussions as “difficult”.
The drafting of the final agreement has not yet started, although this was listed by the Iranian negotiator as one of the aims of the meetings. “We very quickly found ourselves at deadlock, without being able to start writing the text”, he explained. The sign of a tense round of talks, no joint press release has been published, officially because “nothing has been agreed until everything has been agreed. This is why we do not want to break off and give an overview of where we are at the end of every session”. However, there was a joint press release at the end of previous meetings.
One of the stumbling blocks is believed to be Iran's ballistic and defence programme. The Westerners stressed that the points to be negotiated those included in the UN resolutions, but the Iranians have no wish to negotiate on this subject, even though this is one of the points of the resolutions. “This is not up for discussion, we have said this before and we continue to repeat it”, negotiator Abbas Araqchi explained.
However, Zarif remains optimistic. He believes that an “agreement is possible, but the illusions must disappear. It must not be another missed opportunity like in 2005”.
According to Araqchi, quoted by the Iranian agency Isna, the E3+3 and Iran will meet again for further talks from 16 to 20 June. The European side declined to confirm these dates. The provisional agreement reached in November applies until 20 July, but may be extended. (CG)