The High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs, Josep Borrell, and the French Minister for Foreign Affairs, Jean-Yves Le Drian, called on Friday 14 January for the acceleration of the talks in Vienna between France, Germany, the United Kingdom, China, Russia and Iran on the Iranian nuclear programme (JCPOA).
Discussions resumed at the end of November 2021 after a pause of more than a year (see EUROPE 12826/21).
“This is moving much too slowly”, Mr Le Drian said at the end of the informal meeting of EU foreign ministers (Gymnich meeting) in Brest. He stated that the negotiations are facing “a kind of critical urgency”, adding that “the choice is not between concluding in a few weeks or a few months, but between a very rapid return to the JCPOA and a very rapid proliferation crisis”.
The High Representative also felt that discussions should be accelerated. “If Iran becomes a nuclear power, there will be nothing left to negotiate”, he warned.
However, Mr Borrell thought that it was “possible to reach an agreement”, adding that the mood was better than in the talks before Christmas. (Original version in French by Camille-Cerise Gessant)