Brussels, 23/03/2015 (Agence Europe) - On Saturday 21 March, the foreign affairs ministers of Germany, France and the UK, the US secretary of state and the EU high representative for foreign affairs and security policy called on Iran to “take difficult decisions” in the negotiations on its nuclear programme.
In a joint statement published at the end of a meeting, Frank-Walter Steinmeier, Laurent Fabius, Philip Hammond, John Kerry and Federica Mogherini announced that there had been “substantial progress in key areas” in the negotiations. However “there are still important issues on which no agreement has yet been possible”, they said. “Now is the time for Iran, in particular, to take difficult decisions”, they warned.
“We are at an important moment in the negotiations. If we are able to resolve all the main issues, technical work will follow to convert a framework into a detailed text”, the ministers, secretary of state and high representative stated. At the extension of the provisional agreement, in November, the negotiators had agreed that a political agreement should be found before 31 March and a technical agreement before 30 June (see EUROPE 11204).
The negotiators of the E3+3 (Germany, France, United Kingdom and China, United States, Russia) and Iran will resume their talks in Lausanne (Switzerland) this week. According to some sources, the negotiations are expected to resume on Wednesday 25 March. For the German, French, British, US and EU representatives, these negotiations are a shared effort between the E3+3 members, coordinated by the EU. Experts in the different disciplines in each of the E+3 states are contributing “in depth” to the “coordinated negotiating positions and this coordination, as well as multiple bilateral talks with Iran, will continue to be a vital part of achieving success”, the ministers, Kerry and Mogherini stated.
“We will all continue to work together with unity of purpose to secure a successful outcome”, they said, reiterating that they are “all equally committed to finding a solution that ensures that Iran's nuclear programme remains exclusively peaceful in line with its stated commitment”. “Any solution must be comprehensive, durable and verifiable. None of our countries can subscribe to a deal that does not meet these terms”, they warned. (Camille-Cerise Gessant)