The High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, Josep Borrell, called on Tuesday 26 July for the adoption of the compromise negotiated during more than a year, which would put the Iranian nuclear agreement (JCPOA) back on track.
“It is not a perfect agreement, but it addresses all essential elements and includes hard-won compromises by all sides” he said in an op-ed published in the Financial Times, calling it “the best possible agreement (...) achievable” and that there was “no other comprehensive or effective alternative within reach”.
“It is now time for swift political decisions to conclude the Vienna negotiations on the basis of my proposed text and to immediately return to a fully implemented JCPOA”, the High Representative argued, adding that it was a shared responsibility to conclude the agreement.
Mr Borrell acknowledged that the JCPOA was politically polarising public opinion in the United States ahead of the mid-term elections on 8 November. He recalled that the JCPOA was not meant to address concerns beyond the nuclear issue, such as human rights and Iran’s regional activities.
According to the deal’s facilitator, “every day with no agreement in Vienna postpones concrete economic benefits to the Iranian people through substantial US sanctions lifting, as well as the benefits of non-proliferation for the world”. The High Representative warned that reaching an agreement now would yield significant economic and financial dividends and enhance regional and global security, but that rejecting it assures “a loss on both accounts - who knows for how long”. “If the deal is rejected, we risk a dangerous nuclear crisis, set against the prospect of increased isolation for Iran and its people”, he insisted.
Moreover, according to Mr Borrell, an agreement would show that in a period of turbulence, balanced international agreements are still possible. (Original version in French by Camille-Cerise Gessant)