The chief Iranian negotiator, Ali Bagheri Kani, announced today, Friday, that the seventh round of the Vienna negotiations has concluded and will resume after a week, while informed sources revealed to “Al-Araby Al-Jadeed” part of the scenes of the arduous negotiations that began on Monday, and what the last hours of the negotiations witnessed. Pressure not to end the current round of Vienna negotiations before setting a date for its resumption.

Bagheri stated that today’s meeting conducted an overall assessment of the results of the talks since last Monday. And he indicated that it was emphasized during today’s meeting that Iran’s proposals on lifting sanctions and nuclear issues remain on the negotiating table.

The Iranian official added that the other parties needed to consult with their capitals on the Iranian proposals, in reference to the ready-made Iranian drafts that were presented to the participants in the negotiations, and pointed out that the negotiations will resume next week in Vienna after the parties return from the capitals.

Vienna Negotiations: Urgent Action Needed

For his part, Enrique Mora, Deputy Commissioner for Foreign Policy of the European Union, who chairs the meetings of the Joint Committee for the Nuclear Agreement in Vienna as part of the negotiations, said that the negotiations will resume next Wednesday or Thursday, saying that during this round the main challenges and obstacles that must be worked on were identified.

Mora refused, in a press conference after the meeting of the joint committee of the nuclear agreement, to talk about the details of Iran’s proposals on lifting sanctions and nuclear issues, saying that “talks are continuing and all parties will study all proposals.”

The coordinator of the negotiations stressed that “time is not open to negotiations, and there is a feeling that urgent action must be taken to reach an agreement,” adding that he had held “fruitful consultations with the new Iranian delegation.”

Regarding the details of the negotiations, Mora said: “I will not talk about the details. The discussions are not over, and they are continuing, and next week we are all here and we will continue to work,” noting that “next week’s negotiations may reach a result.”

After today’s meeting, Wang Gan, the Chinese envoy to the Vienna negotiations, stressed that “more work is needed.”

Behind the scenes of arduous meetings and pressures

It seems that the seventh round of negotiations, which began last Monday, was arduous. Sources accompanying the negotiations in Vienna reveal to Al-Araby Al-Jadeed about what happened in the meetings, which heated up in the last hours, especially with pressures applied to prevent the current round from ending without setting a date for the resumption of negotiations.

It seems that these pressures paid off, with the announcement of next week’s date for a new tour.

The sources, who preferred not to be identified, said that the joint committee of the member states of the nuclear agreement held a meeting today at the request of the European parties, after the latter’s “discontentment” with the draft proposals presented by the Iranian side, last Wednesday night.

Before Bagheri announced the end of the current round of negotiations, the sources added that the meeting of the Joint Committee of the Nuclear Agreement also came to evaluate the results of the round, and “discuss the future of negotiations, and most likely he will announce the end of this round.”

The same sources revealed that “the last hours witnessed pressure and efforts from the Russian and Chinese parties and the representative of the European Union not to end the round without agreeing on a date for the resumption of negotiations.”

And earlier today, Friday, sources told Al-Araby Al-Jadeed that the delegations will return to their capitals with the Iranian proposals to discuss them, noting that “there is European and American resentment” about the content of the Iranian proposals.

She explained that these parties believe that the Iranian drafts contradict a draft agreement reached by the negotiating parties during the previous rounds, noting that “the gap in the positions between Iran and the Western parties has become deeper and more than it was previously.”

The sources added that “the negotiating parties were surprised, on Wednesday, by the ready-made Iranian drafts, because they put them in front of a different agenda than the previous sessions, based on the priority of lifting sanctions completely and linking progress in nuclear issues to lifting sanctions, but this approach is rejected by the American and European parties.”

The meeting of the Joint Committee of the Nuclear Agreement, today, Friday, was preceded by intense meetings and contacts in Vienna and between Tehran and the European Union during the past hours, to discuss the complex situation in the Vienna negotiations. Iranian negotiators and other negotiating parties, today and yesterday, as well as the meetings of the Director-General of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), Rafael Grossi, with Bagheri Kani and the US special envoy on Iran’s affairs.

Today, the European Union’s foreign policy chief, Josep Borrell, made a call with Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir Abdollahian, to discuss the status of the Vienna negotiations.

(The New Arab)