The Political Director of the European External Action Service, Enrique Mora, flew to Iran on Tuesday 10 May to meet with Iranian officials, including Ali Bagheri, the Deputy Foreign Minister, to discuss the nuclear deal in particular.
“Work to fill the remaining gaps” in the nuclear deal negotiations “continues”, Mr Mora announced before leaving for Tehran.
“We are hopeful that we can reach a deal within a reasonable timeframe, even if we have to recognise that the window may close very quickly”, explained the Director General of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), Rafael Grossi, to MEPs on Tuesday. The IAEA is not a party to the deal, but it ensures that all agreements signed at the political level are implemented.
The Director General implied that the sticking points were the issue of sanctions and the fact that the ‘Islamic Revolutionary Guard’ was labelled a terrorist organisation by the US (see EUROPE 12921/28). “On the whole, the work (of negotiations, editor’s note) is over. The issue of the treatment of sanctions and the inclusion in the list (of sanctioned entities or individuals) of certain Iranians remains an obstacle”, he explained.
Mr Grossi also expressed concern about a certain opacity on the part of the Iranians on nuclear issues. “The IAEA is trying to clarify a number of outstanding issues with Iran. In recent months, we have been able to identify traces of enriched uranium in places that have never been declared by Iran as places where nuclear activities could take place”, he explained. He added: “We are extremely concerned about these findings”.
The Director General warned that signing a new deal “will not be possible if the IAEA has serious doubts about a number of activities that the Iranians should have told us about”. (Original version in French by Camille-Cerise Gessant)