Middle East, Europe

Germany urges Iran to speed up diplomatic efforts to revive nuclear deal

German foreign minister hopes Iran will ‘quickly muster necessary political will to carry negotiations over finish line’

Oliver Towfigh Nia  | 07.06.2021 - Update : 07.06.2021
Germany urges Iran to speed up diplomatic efforts to revive nuclear deal

BERLIN

Germany on Monday called on Iran to accelerate its diplomatic efforts to revive the 2015 nuclear deal between Tehran and the six world powers – the US, Russia, China, UK, France, and Germany.

Addressing the annual conference of German ambassadors in Berlin, Heiko Maas said: “We now hope Iran will quickly muster the necessary political will to carry these negotiations across the finish line.”

Iran and the world powers are resuming their sixth round of talks later this week in Vienna aimed at reaching a final agreement in a bid to revive the 2015 nuclear accord.

Berlin has expressed cautious optimism on the ongoing nuclear negotiations saying while they were “proceeding well,” important sticking points remained.

“Overall, on the situation in Vienna, one can say the talks are going well, but many important areas also raise questions that need to be clarified and there are important questions,” Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Adebahr was quoted saying last week.

“So overall the perspective is positive, but there is still no success to report and the discussions are still intense. From this perspective, it is not possible today to anticipate and say whether there will be a success,” she added.

Adebahr stressed it was too early to predict the outcome of the negotiations in the Austrian capital but her country wants a return to the 2015 Iran nuclear agreement, commonly known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA).

“It is no secret that we wish, and this has been going on for months, a return to the JCPOA as soon as possible and a re-compliance with this agreement,” Adebahr said.

The six countries are continuing to discuss ways to revive the deal, which then-US President Donald Trump unilaterally abandoned in May 2018.

The American delegation is not participating in the meeting with the other world powers, as Iran refuses to directly negotiate with the US until sanctions imposed during the Trump presidential era are lifted.

Under the accord, Tehran vowed to limit its nuclear activity to civilian purposes and in return, western powers would agree to drop their economic sanctions on Iran.

But in 2018, under Trump, the US unilaterally withdrew from the agreement as part of his so-called “maximal pressure” policy and reimposed tough sanctions on Iran, prompting Tehran to stop complying with the agreement.

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