The Paper Reporter Yu Xiaoxuan Intern Zheng Jianghan
After Russia's new request "spoiled the situation", the negotiations to resume the Iran nuclear agreement have regained hope. The U.S. State Department stated on March 16 that it was possible to reach an agreement with Iran as soon as possible and restart the Iran nuclear agreement. At the same time as this news broke, two British Iranians who had been detained in Iran for many years were released, which was also seen as a positive signal from Iran.
According to AFP reported on March 16, US State Department spokesperson Price said, "We are close to reaching a possible agreement, but it has not yet been reached. We do believe that the remaining disputes can be bridged." Iran previously stated that in the negotiations on the Iranian nuclear issue, there are only two final issues left to be resolved between Iran and the United States.
On March 17, 2022 local time, in Brize Norton, England, Nazanin Zagari-Ratcliffe (right) and Anoush Ashouri, who have dual British and Iranian nationalities, were released on the 16th. and flew out of Iran to the UK. People's Vision
In addition, Iran released two British Iranians - Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe and Anoush Asuri - on March 16, which was seen as a diplomatic conflict with the West. Another sign of a thaw. Nazanin is a British female journalist who holds dual nationality of the United Kingdom and Iran. In 2016, she was sentenced to imprisonment on suspicion of conspiring to overthrow the Iranian regime. Anoush, a retired civil engineer, was arrested in 2017 while visiting relatives in Iran and was later accused by an Iranian court of "espionage for the Israeli Mossad" and sentenced to prison.
According to a report by the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) on the 17th, in exchange for some kind of exchange, the United Kingdom actively demanded the release of two British citizens and also paid off the 400 million pounds (approximately RMB 3.34 billion) owed to Iran in the 1970s. debt. In the 1970s, the then Iranian Shah (King) Pahlavi spent huge sums of money to purchase military equipment and ordered thousands of tanks and vehicle maintenance services from the United Kingdom. Since Iran received a large amount of oil revenue at that time, Iran paid the deposit in cash.
However, in 1979, the Islamic Revolution broke out in Iran and the Pahlavi dynasty was overthrown. The new government did not want the tanks ordered and canceled the order. Later, the Iranian authorities sued the UK and demanded the return of the deposit, but the UK emphasized that what Iran signed at that time was a legally binding commercial contract. For decades, Britain did not deliver the tanks nor return the money.
British Foreign Secretary Truss said that the UK has paid off its debt. She told MPs that following "highly complex" negotiations with Iran, the UK government had found a way to make the debt-related payment and that the payment process was consistent with existing sanctions, global counter-terrorism financing rules and anti-money laundering. regulations.
Truss said the terms related to repaying the debt would remain confidential, adding that Iran could only use the funds for humanitarian purposes.
More and more positive developments have given the outside world hope of reviving the Iran nuclear agreement. A diplomat told AFP that the process of restoring the Iran nuclear deal is on the "right track." But he also said, "We must proceed with caution."
Henry Rome, an analyst at , a US political risk consulting firm Eurasia Group, believes that the current difficulties may be overcome. "Both the United States and Iran hope to reach an agreement, and the latter may use some diplomatic capital to persuade Russia to abandon its confrontational stance."
As one of the signatories of the Iran nuclear agreement, Russia made a new request on March 5: the United States provides a written commitment , to ensure that Russia’s trade with Iran would not be affected by Western sanctions against Russia after the United States lifted sanctions on Iran. This request was rejected by the United States on the spot, and the negotiations were suspended again.
On March 15, Iranian Foreign Minister Abdullahiyan visited Russia and met with Russian Foreign Minister Lavrov. After the meeting, Lavrov said that Russia had received a written guarantee from the United States that U.S. sanctions against Russia would not affect cooperation between Russia and Iran. Abdullahiyan said that Russia did not create obstacles to negotiations on the Iran nuclear deal.
Abdullahiyan said on the 16th that reaching a final agreement on the Iranian nuclear issue requires the United States to take action and not create extraneous matters. According to the website of the Iranian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Abdullahiyan said in a phone call with British Foreign Secretary Truss on the evening of the 16th that "reaching a good and lasting agreement requires the United States to take realistic actions and stop making new false demands." . If all of Iran’s red lines are respected, Iran is ready to reach a final agreement.”
Editor in charge: Hu Zhenqing Picture editor: Chen Feiyan
Proofreader: Liu Wei
