Iran FM: Few remaining issues need US good faith to resolve

Iran's Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian says negotiations in Vienna to revive the 2015 nuclear deal are nearing the final stretch, but the US needs to show good faith in order to achieve it.

Washington has to remove the swinging sanctions that it has imposed on Iran, with the remaining sticking points reportedly being a guarantee in case a future US government abrogates the deal again and key Iranian institutions to be delisted.

"We are close to the final stage of the agreement. For the few remaining very important issues, we have presented initiatives to the United States through the EU Coordinator. It is now up to the American side to show its good faith in action," Amir-Abdollahian told his Iraqi counterpart Fuad Hussein over the phone Monday night.

The Wall Street Journal wrote that the final hurdle to reviving the deal is lifting terrorism sanctions on the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC). The issue, it said, is galvanizing opposition to the deal in Washington and among West Asian allies such as the regime of Israel.

"Senior US officials say a failure to quickly reach a compromise with Iran on the issue could lead to a breakdown in negotiations which, in nearly a year, have resolved almost all other disagreements," the paper wrote on Monday.

The Journal cited people familiar with the talks as saying that the US team dangled the possibility of lifting the IRGC’s terrorism designation last spring with the approval of some in Washington.

"At the time, there were also strings attached. However, Team USA withdrew the offer due to senior management concerns," it said without elaboration.

Now Washington is behind the offer to lift the terrorist designation, acknowledging that without the step Tehran could walk away from a deal, the paper said, citing US officials.  

"The IRGC designation highlights the cross-currents facing the Biden administration’s efforts to revive the nuclear deal," the Journal said.

The IRGC’s listing was part of a series of steps taken by the Trump administration to list Iranian individuals and entities under terrorist sanctions. It was the first time Washington had designated an element of a foreign state as a terrorist entity.

The Journal noted arguments by those who say terrorism sanctions have little economic effect and have done nothing to reduce the regional role of the IRGC.

MG