Iran is pushing what it portrays as a new compromise proposal in nuclear talks, but Western negotiators say it offers no viable concessions, underscoring how far apart the two sides are as they enter crunch time before a Nov. 24 deadline.
In the negotiations with six major powers, Iran said it is no longer demanding a total end to economic sanctions in return for curbing their nuclear program and would accept initially lifting just the latest, most damaging, sanctions.
Western officials dismiss the proposal as nothing new and say Iran has always known that the sanctions could end only gradually — with each measure suspended and later terminated after Iranian compliance had been proven.
Officials said that in talks in Vienna, they too have offered what they call compromises over demands that Iran limit its nuclear program, but they have been rejected by Tehran.
“The bottom line is that they do not appear willing to limit their enrichment program to a level we would find acceptable,” a European diplomat said. “We may have no choice, but to extend the talks past November ... It’s either that or let the talks collapse.”
Under their most recent offer, Iranian officials have said that the nation’s leadership would be satisfied with removing crippling US and EU energy and banking sanctions imposed in 2012.
They described this as a major step down from Iran’s consistent calls for the removal of all sanctions imposed on Iran because of its refusal to heed UN Security Council demands that it halt uranium enrichment.
Tehran calls the sanctions unfair and illegal.
The proposal by Iranian negotiators in talks with the US, Britain, France, Germany, Russia and China has the backing of the Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Iranian officials say.
“For the other party involved, it might be only a political issue, but for Iran what is in danger is the existence of the establishment if the economic hardship continues,” a senior Iranian official said.
Building on a UN Security Council sanctions resolution passed in 2010, the US and EU in 2012 imposed major sanctions against Iranian oil and gas companies and strengthened restrictions on the nation’s central bank.
Under the US National Defense Authorization Act Section 1245, Washington also forced Iran’s major oil customers to greatly reduce their purchases of Iranian oil or face having their banks cut off from the US financial system.
“Iran wants to return to the situation before these sanctions were imposed,” the Iranian official said. “If agreed upon, it will help in reaching a compromise by the Nov. 24 deadline.”
US officials have made clear that they would make swift moves to suspend sanctions if a proper deal with Iran is secured and Tehran complies with it.
Nearly half of China’s major cities are suffering “moderate to severe” levels of subsidence, putting millions of people at risk of flooding, especially as sea levels rise, according to a study of nationwide satellite data released yesterday. The authors of the paper, published by the journal Science, found that 45 percent of China’s urban land was sinking faster than 3mm per year, with 16 percent at more than 10mm per year, driven not only by declining water tables, but also the sheer weight of the built environment. With China’s urban population already in excess of 900 million people, “even a small portion
UNSETTLING IMAGES: The scene took place in front of TV crews covering the Trump trial, with a CNN anchor calling it an ‘emotional and unbelievably disturbing moment’ A man who doused himself in an accelerant and set himself on fire outside the courthouse where former US president Donald Trump is on trial has died, police said yesterday. The New York City Police Department (NYPD) said the man was declared dead by staff at an area hospital. The man was in Collect Pond Park at about 1:30pm on Friday when he took out pamphlets espousing conspiracy theories, tossed them around, then doused himself in an accelerant and set himself on fire, officials and witnesses said. A large number of police officers were nearby when it happened. Some officers and bystanders rushed
HYPOCRISY? The Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs yesterday asked whether Biden was talking about China or the US when he used the word ‘xenophobic’ US President Joe Biden on Wednesday called for a hike in steel tariffs on China, accusing Beijing of cheating as he spoke at a campaign event in Pennsylvania. Biden accused China of xenophobia, too, in a speech to union members in Pittsburgh. “They’re not competing, they’re cheating. They’re cheating and we’ve seen the damage here in America,” Biden said. Chinese steel companies “don’t need to worry about making a profit because the Chinese government is subsidizing them so heavily,” he said. Biden said he had called for the US Trade Representative to triple the tariff rates for Chinese steel and aluminum if Beijing was
Beijing is continuing to commit genocide and crimes against humanity against Uyghurs and other Muslim minorities in its western Xinjiang province, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in a report published on Monday, ahead of his planned visit to China this week. The State Department’s annual human rights report, which documents abuses recorded all over the world during the previous calendar year, repeated language from previous years on the treatment of Muslims in Xinjiang, but the publication raises the issue ahead of delicate talks, including on the war in Ukraine and global trade, between the top U.S. diplomat and Chinese