"A senior western nuclear negotiator once said with satisfaction that "words matter." That's why Iran wants no ambiguities to remain in the text. There should be no loopholes that can be used to undermine a deal. There are problems with a few words and the US can easily fix them," wrote Mohammad Marandi in Saturday tweet.
The United States, under former president Donald Trump, abandoned the agreement in May 2018 and reinstated unilateral sanctions that the agreement had lifted.
The talks to salvage the agreement kicked off in the Austrian capital city of Vienna in April last year, months after Joe Biden succeeded Trump, with the intention of examining Washington's seriousness in rejoining the deal and removing anti-Iran sanctions.
Despite notable progress, the US indecisiveness and procrastination caused multiple interruptions in the marathon talks. Four days of intense talks between representatives of Iran and the five remaining parties to the JCPOA ended on August 8 with a modified text proposed by the EU on the table.
Iran submitted its response to the EU draft proposal on August 15, a week after the latest round of talks wrapped up which the bloc described as “reasonable". After submitting its response, Tehran urged Washington to show "realism and flexibility" in order to reach an agreement.
The United States, for its part, took several weeks to offer its response to Iran’s comments. On Friday, Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Nasser Kan’ani said Tehran has offered its opinion on the US response to the EU draft text for the JCPAO revival.
Marandi further added, "The US domestic situation is a key reason why a nuclear deal has been allusive. While some EU governments have already asked Iran about oil as well as natural gas exports, Biden is fearful that foes will depict him and certain allies as weak."
"Iran will be patient. The US under Obama systematically violated the deal & under Trump/Biden it imposed maximum pressure on innocent citizens. Hence, Iran won't accept ambiguities or loopholes in the text. Winter is approaching & the EU is facing a crippling energy crisis," Marandi said.
Swedish Prime Minister Magdalena Andersson has sounded the alarm about the EU's energy crisis, warning that a difficult winter and dangerous disruptions are ahead if no action is taken by Europe.
Andersson’s remarks came after Moscow announced on Friday it was shutting down the Nord Stream 1 pipeline to Germany due to what officials cited as leaks in a turbine converter in the natural gas flow system.
Experts say the shutdown of the pipeline exacerbates a squeeze on Europe’s energy supplies and increases the recession risks faced in the EU.
ZZ/
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