Vienna negotiations suspended: Who benefits?
European Union High Representative
for Foreign Affairs Josep Borrell announced on March 12 the suspension of the
Vienna nuclear negotiations to revive the nuclear agreement between Iran and
the West after eight rounds, during which no tangible result has been reached
about signing a new agreement or lifting US economic sanctions imposed on
Tehran.
The media revealed that the reason
behind this is Moscow, as it set new conditions in order to obstruct the
nuclear deal talks, because it is currently preoccupied with its war against
Ukraine, especially since Borrell also did not mention the reason for the
suspension of those negotiations but said, “There is a need to pause the talks
due to external factors.”
Iranian reformist newspapers
highlighted this, indicating that the suspension of negotiations to revive the
nuclear agreement is related to Moscow, especially since Russian Foreign
Minister Sergei Lavrov demanded in his statements a few days before the
announcement of the suspension of the Vienna negotiations that Moscow obtain
guarantees that it has access to the benefits of the nuclear agreement and the
non-implementation of the sanctions currently imposed on it due to Ukraine when
it is decided to return to the nuclear agreement.
Russia and
Iran: For whose benefit?
Opinions varied between those who
support and oppose this, as there were those who said that the Russian position
is aimed at thwarting the Vienna nuclear negotiations, especially after Moscow
confirmed that lifting US sanctions on Iran might contribute to Tehran’s export
of its oil to global markets and the decline in demand for Russian oil, which
Moscow does not want. However, others saw that suspending the negotiations at
this particular time might later lead to their success, saying that there would
be more opportunity and space for the parties to the nuclear agreement to
discuss their differences.
Russian-Ukrainian
war
Dr. Mohamed Ebadi, an Egyptian
researcher specializing in Iranian affairs, said that it is natural for the
Vienna negotiations to stop due to the current situation on the international scene
regarding the Russian-Ukrainian war. He noted that Russia is a major party to
the negotiations and is one of the countries most supportive of concluding a
nuclear agreement for two reasons: the first is that it does not want Iran to
be a nuclear state, and the second is the economic benefit that Moscow would
have obtained if the US sanctions against Iran were lifted, as Moscow considers
itself a strong economic partner of Iran, as evidenced by the agreements signed
during the recent visit of Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi to the Russian
capital two months ago.
Ebadi pointed out in an exclusive
statement to the Reference that this pause will be temporary and will result in
Iran benefiting from global events and the preoccupation of NATO and Washington
with what is happening on the international scene, as Tehran will return to
militancy and will expand the ceiling of its demands until it obtains what it
wants, especially after the Iranian Revolutionary Guard recently revealed a
city of missiles and drones.
