UN calls on rivals to return to deal terms

UNITED NATIONS/VIENNA－The UN urged Washington on Tuesday to lift sanctions on Teheran in line with the 2015 landmark nuclear deal, while calling on the Islamic republic to return to commitments to limit its nuclear program.

"I appeal to the United States to lift or waive its sanctions as outlined in the plan and extend the waivers regarding the trade in oil with the Islamic Republic of Iran," said Rosemary DiCarlo, the United Nations' undersecretary-general for political and peacebuilding affairs, to the UN Security Council.

"Also important is the extension of US waivers regarding certain civilian nuclear related activities."

As negotiations resumed in Vienna on reviving the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, DiCarlo said waiver extensions were also needed for exchanging enriched uranium out of Iran for natural uranium.

The deal has been on life support since 2018, when former president Donald Trump pulled the US out of the accord, which provided Iran with sanctions relief in return for curbs on its nuclear program, prompting Teheran to begin rolling back on its commitments.

DiCarlo called on Iran "to reverse the steps it has taken that are not consistent with its nuclear-related commitments under the plan".

In a joint statement, Germany, Britain and France－all signatories of the nuclear deal along with Russia and China－said "the diplomatic door is firmly open for Iran to do a deal now".

"Iran has to choose between the collapse of the JCPOA and a fair and comprehensive deal, for the benefit of the Iranian people and nation," the statement added.

Majid Takht Ravanchi, Iran's UN ambassador, said in order to resume its commitments under the nuclear agreement, Iran was not "imposing any preconditions or new conditions" and that all the measures it has taken since Washington left the accord were "reversible".

"Now, it is time for the US and the EU to live up to their responsibilities and return to the full compliance with the JCPOA," Ravanchi said. "The choice is theirs. We hope they seize this opportunity."

Ravanchi's US counterpart Linda Thomas-Greenfield said Washington was "prepared to return to US compliance and to stay in compliance, so long as Iran does the same".

Vienna talks

Indirect negotiations between Iran and the US, mostly carried out by European powers, resumed at the end of November in Vienna in an attempt to resuscitate the agreement that was aimed at preventing Teheran from acquiring nuclear weapons.

"Some actors persist in their blame game habit, instead of real diplomacy. We proposed our ideas early, and worked constructively and flexibly to narrow gaps," wrote Iran's top nuclear negotiator Ali Bagheri Kani in a tweet, referring to the 2018 US withdrawal from the accord.

"Diplomacy is a two-way street. If there's real will to remedy the culprit's wrongdoing, the way for a quick, good deal will be paved."

Reuters reported that Iran also wants guarantees that "no US administration" will renege on the pact again. But US President Joe Biden cannot promise this because the nuclear deal is a nonbinding political understanding, not a legally binding treaty.

However, a spokesman for the Iranian Foreign Ministry told state-run Press TV that an understanding with the Vienna-based International Atomic Energy Agency could come soon.

Agencies - Xinhua