Indirect talks in the capital of Qatar between Tehran and Washington aimed at reviving Iran’s 2015 nuclear pact have concluded with “no progress made,” the United States State department said late Wednesday.
What does this indirect discussion aim to accomplish?
Two days of indirect talks aimed at reviving the 2015 nuclear deal between Iran and the P5+1, i.e., the United States, the United Kingdom, France, Russia, China, and Germany. Originally known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), the deal restrains Iran’s nuclear program in exchange for lifting some multilateral sanctions.
Apart from restraining the nuclear programme of the country, the deal also makes sure that Iran’s nuclear programme is peaceful through monitoring by the International Atomic Energy Agency.
Later on, in 2018, under President Donald Trump, the United States unilaterally abandoned the accord, which was followed by the imposition of sanctions on Iran.
In response to this, Iran advances its nuclear programme, which remains strictly peaceful. While other countries worry about the probability of Iran trying to build a nuclear weapon, the IAEA is concerned about a lack of cooperation.
Current situation
After two days of European Union mediated discussion in the capital city of Qatar, the US State Department mentioned on Wednesday that Iran has “raised issues wholly unrelated to the JCPOA (Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, the 2015 nuclear deal) and apparently is not ready to make a fundamental decision on whether it wants to revive the deal or bury it.” (Aljazeera News)
In a statement, the US State Department said, “Indirect discussions in Doha have concluded, and while we are very grateful to the European Union for its efforts, we are disappointed that Iran has, yet again, failed to respond positively to the EU’s initiative and therefore that no progress was made.”
EU coordinator Enrique Mora had earlier tweeted that the talks did not progress the way “the EU team as coordinator had hoped for.”
Furthermore, she said, “We will keep working with even greater urgency to bring back on track a key deal for non-proliferation and regional stability.”
Mora’s comment came a few hours after the semi-official Tasnim news agency described the negotiations as having “no effect on breaking the deadlock in the talks.”
The Iranian news agency claimed that the American position did not include “a guarantee for Iran benefiting economically from the deal,” citing unnamed “informed sources.”
Furthermore, Nasser Kanani, spokesman of the Iranian foreign ministry, issued a statement on Wednesday, describing the two-day long negotiations as “being held in a professional and serious atmosphere.” However, the US Department of State did not immediately respond.