Iran nuclear deal closer to reality?

Agencies | Tehran

The Daily Tribune – www.newsofbahrain.com

Western countries and Iran are getting “tantalisingly” closer to signing the renewed version of the 2015 nuclear deal, reports said, which will now allow Iran to ship 50 million barrels of oil per day within 120 days of signing.

Reports say the EU and Iran are aiming to realise the deal in four phases over two 60-day periods. However, the IAEA’s demand for more cooperation from Iran into the traces of man-made nuclear particles found at several Iran sites years ago continues as one of the main sticking points. Tehran wants it to shut down, something the agency itself, as well as Western governments, are opposed to. Another is the US designation of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), as a “foreign terrorist organisation.”

The US and the deal’s other signatories – France, the United Kingdom, Germany, China and Russia, are collectively known as the P5+1. The US had expressed its readiness to quickly seal the agreement if Iran accepts the “final text” proposal submitted by European Union last week.

Reportedly, the proposal stipulates lifting sanctions on 17 Iranian banks and 150 economic institutions on the day of signing the deal. The deal, if signed, also requires Iran to immediately reverse the measures it took to advance its nuclear technology.

Another clause, reportedly, allows Iran to export 50 million barrels of oil per day within 120 days of signing the agreement. The deal also allows the release of $7 billion of Iran Funds held in South Korea. Besides, the US will have a pay a fine if it withdraws from the agreement again.

Last week’s attack on author Salman Rushdie and the indictment of an Iranian national in a plot to kill former national security adviser John Bolton had given the Biden administration new headaches as it attempts to negotiate a return to the 2015 nuclear deal.