Paris
\nInternational negotiations on Iran\u2019s nuclear activities are proceeding so slowly that they are unlikely to lead to any agreement \u201cwithin a realistic timeframe,\u201d France\u2019s Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian said Tuesday.
\nThe discussions taking place in Vienna \u201care under way but from our point of view they are slow, too slow,\u201d Le Drian told the French parliament.
\n\u201cThere is a vital urgency on this issue because of Iran\u2019s own actions and the trajectory of its nuclear programme,\u201d he added
\nOn Monday Iran\u2019s foreign ministry spokesman had said that efforts by \u201call parties\u201d to revive his country\u2019s 2015 nuclear agreement with world powers had resulted in \u201cgood progress\u201d during the Vienna talks.
\nNegotiations to salvage the nuclear deal resumed in late November after they were suspended in June as Iran elected a new, ultraconservative government.
\nThe 2015 deal — agreed by Iran, the US, China, Russia, Britain, France and Germany — offered Tehran sanctions relief in exchange for curbs on its nuclear programme.
\nBut then-US president Donald Trump unilaterally withdrew the US in 2018 and reimposed biting sanctions, prompting Tehran to begin rolling back on its commitments.
\n\u201cThere has been good progress on all four issues of removing sanctions, nuclear issues, verification and obtaining guarantees\u201d during the latest round of talks, Iran\u2019s foreign ministry spokesman Saeed Khatibzadeh told reporters on Monday.
\nThe US has participated only indirectly in the Vienna talks, which seek to bring Washington back inside the accord and to ensure Iran re-adheres to its own commitments.
\nLe Drian had sounded more positive about the talks on Friday, when he said they were progressing on a \u201crather positive path\u201d while still emphasising the urgency of bringing them to a speedy conclusion.
\nThe following day his Iranian counterpart Hossein Amir-Abdollahian said the two sides are nearing a \u201cgood agreement\u201d due to France \u201cbehaving reasonably\u201d after previously playing \u201cthe role of a bad cop\u201d.
\nBritain, France and Germany said last month that the window for concluding a deal was \u201cweeks, not months\u201d, due to the speed of Iran\u2019s nuclear enrichment.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Paris International negotiations on Iran\u2019s nuclear activities are proceeding so slowly that they are unlikely to lead to any agreement \u201cwithin a realistic timeframe,\u201d France\u2019s Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian said Tuesday. The discussions taking place in Vienna \u201care under way but from our point of view they are slow, too slow,\u201d Le Drian told […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-238441","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-world"},"yoast_head":"\n