A possible breakthrough in bringing Iran back into the 2015 nuclear agreement and getting the US to lift sanctions is possible within “the next days or a week”, the EU’s foreign affairs representative said.
Talks were now at “critical juncture” in reviving the deal, Josep Borrell said in Brussels.
He spoke after a virtual meeting of the EU’s Foreign Affairs Council in which US Secretary of State Antony Blinken had his first discussion with European ministers.
Mr Borrell said to prevent Iran’s continued nuclear developments it was necessary to bring back full implementation of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action and for the US to lift sanctions.
“This is the only way forward and is in the interest of global and regional security,” he said.
“I can tell you that intense diplomatic contacts are ongoing, including with the US.
"As JCPOA co-ordinator, it is my job to help to create the space for diplomacy and to find a solution … and I hope at the next stage there will be news.”
Mr Borrell said that “in the next days or week, we could prove that working together delivers results in this field”.
While Mr Blinken gave no indication that the US was yet willing to lift sanctions as a first move to halt Iran’s nuclear programme, he called for an accord that would “lengthen and strengthen” the 2015 deal.
On Monday he said he was pleased the US and European partners shared the same objectives regarding Iran.
“President Biden has been clear for some time that if Iran returns to compliance with its obligations under the nuclear agreement, the United States would do the same thing,” Mr Blinken said.
The US now has an invitation from the EU for an informal meeting of the Joint Commission of the Iran nuclear agreement.
The US, European partners, Russia, China and Iran have all been invited, and Mr Blinken said the US intended to be there.
“If it happens, would be the opening steps on a diplomatic path to seeing if we can resolve this issue,” he said.
Mr Blinken said that if Iran co-operated, the US would work with its partners to improve the nuclear agreement and confront other challenges posed by Iran, such as its destabilising activities in the region and its ballistic missile programme.
He said the US had made no upfront concessions, but that its policy towards Iran under the Trump administration had not produced results and that the problem had worsened.
“Iran is now much closer to being able to produce on short order enough fissile material for a nuclear weapon,” Mr Blinken said.
The US does not feel it has given up its leverage over Iran because all of the original sanctions are still in place.
“In fact, our leverage has now increased because we’re now, once again, on the same page with our European partners,” Mr Blinken said.
“Because they very much disagreed with the United States pulling out of the nuclear agreement, they were expending most of their energy on trying to keep the agreement alive, not in exerting pressure on Iran for some of the other egregious actions that it takes in the region and beyond.
“We’re now all in the same place and we’re united in purpose, and that’s a very powerful thing.”
While EU officials expect negotiations to be arduous, Washington has already indicated that it is willing to send its special envoy, Rob Malley, to meet Iranian officials.
Although US sanctions are hurting the Iranian economy, at an estimated cost of $150 billion, the regime still appears to be unyielding in its demand for them to be lifted before discussions.
“The US will not be able to rejoin the nuclear pact before it lifts sanctions,” Iran’s Foreign Minister, Javad Zarif, said on Sunday.
Mr Blinken will know that today’s discussions on Iran are going to be a significant foreign policy test of President Joe Biden’s administration.
Unpicking the sanctions, some imposed for Iran’s support of terrorism, will be challenging at home with Republicans and some Democrats strongly opposed to compromise.
Domestic politics are at play on both sides. There is a presidential election in Iran in June and with Iranian discontent over the economic hardship and Covid-19, the regime is likely to want to offer some relief to the people.
While supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has publicly portrayed an uncompromising message, the economic and political realities may make Iran more flexible.
The potential for compromise has been helped after the nuclear watchdog, the IAEA, agreed to temporary measures for the next three months to offset Iran's decision to restrict access to inspectors.
But Iran has stated that from tomorrow it will halt snap UN nuclear work inspections.
The nine articles of the 50-Year Charter
1. Dubai silk road
2. A geo-economic map for Dubai
3. First virtual commercial city
4. A central education file for every citizen
5. A doctor to every citizen
6. Free economic and creative zones in universities
7. Self-sufficiency in Dubai homes
8. Co-operative companies in various sectors
9: Annual growth in philanthropy
The specs: 2018 Nissan Patrol Nismo
Price: base / as tested: Dh382,000
Engine: 5.6-litre V8
Gearbox: Seven-speed automatic
Power: 428hp @ 5,800rpm
Torque: 560Nm @ 3,600rpm
Fuel economy, combined: 12.7L / 100km
DIVINE%20INTERVENTOIN
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UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
At a glance
Global events: Much of the UK’s economic woes were blamed on “increased global uncertainty”, which can be interpreted as the economic impact of the Ukraine war and the uncertainty over Donald Trump’s tariffs.
Growth forecasts: Cut for 2025 from 2 per cent to 1 per cent. The OBR watchdog also estimated inflation will average 3.2 per cent this year
Welfare: Universal credit health element cut by 50 per cent and frozen for new claimants, building on cuts to the disability and incapacity bill set out earlier this month
Spending cuts: Overall day-to day-spending across government cut by £6.1bn in 2029-30
Tax evasion: Steps to crack down on tax evasion to raise “£6.5bn per year” for the public purse
Defence: New high-tech weaponry, upgrading HM Naval Base in Portsmouth
Housing: Housebuilding to reach its highest in 40 years, with planning reforms helping generate an extra £3.4bn for public finances
Company%20profile
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UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
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Tonight's Chat on The National
Tonight's Chat is a series of online conversations on The National. The series features a diverse range of celebrities, politicians and business leaders from around the Arab world.
Tonight’s Chat host Ricardo Karam is a renowned author and broadcaster who has previously interviewed Bill Gates, Carlos Ghosn, Andre Agassi and the late Zaha Hadid, among others.
Intellectually curious and thought-provoking, Tonight’s Chat moves the conversation forward.
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Pharaoh's curse
British aristocrat Lord Carnarvon, who funded the expedition to find the Tutankhamun tomb, died in a Cairo hotel four months after the crypt was opened.
He had been in poor health for many years after a car crash, and a mosquito bite made worse by a shaving cut led to blood poisoning and pneumonia.
Reports at the time said Lord Carnarvon suffered from “pain as the inflammation affected the nasal passages and eyes”.
Decades later, scientists contended he had died of aspergillosis after inhaling spores of the fungus aspergillus in the tomb, which can lie dormant for months. The fact several others who entered were also found dead withiin a short time led to the myth of the curse.
Company Profile
Company name: OneOrder
Started: October 2021
Founders: Tamer Amer and Karim Maurice
Based: Cairo, Egypt
Industry: technology, logistics
Investors: A15 and self-funded
Company name: Play:Date
Launched: March 2017 on UAE Mother’s Day
Founder: Shamim Kassibawi
Based: Dubai with operations in the UAE and US
Sector: Tech
Size: 20 employees
Stage of funding: Seed
Investors: Three founders (two silent co-founders) and one venture capital fund
Springsteen: Deliver Me from Nowhere
Director: Scott Cooper
Starring: Jeremy Allen White, Odessa Young, Jeremy Strong
Rating: 4/5
BORDERLANDS
Starring: Cate Blanchett, Kevin Hart, Jamie Lee Curtis
Director: Eli Roth
Rating: 0/5
WHAT IS A BLACK HOLE?
1. Black holes are objects whose gravity is so strong not even light can escape their pull
2. They can be created when massive stars collapse under their own weight
3. Large black holes can also be formed when smaller ones collide and merge
4. The biggest black holes lurk at the centre of many galaxies, including our own
5. Astronomers believe that when the universe was very young, black holes affected how galaxies formed
David Haye record
Total fights: 32
Wins: 28
Wins by KO: 26
Losses: 4
GAC GS8 Specs
Engine: 2.0-litre 4cyl turbo
Power: 248hp at 5,200rpm
Torque: 400Nm at 1,750-4,000rpm
Transmission: 8-speed auto
Fuel consumption: 9.1L/100km
On sale: Now
Price: From Dh149,900
Groom and Two Brides
Director: Elie Semaan
Starring: Abdullah Boushehri, Laila Abdallah, Lulwa Almulla
Rating: 3/5
Despacito's dominance in numbers
Released: 2017
Peak chart position: No.1 in more than 47 countries, including the United States, the United Kingdom, Australia and Lebanon
Views: 5.3 billion on YouTube
Sales: With 10 million downloads in the US, Despacito became the first Latin single to receive Diamond sales certification
Streams: 1.3 billion combined audio and video by the end of 2017, making it the biggest digital hit of the year.
Awards: 17, including Record of the Year at last year’s prestigious Latin Grammy Awards, as well as five Billboard Music Awards
Villains
Queens of the Stone Age
Matador
Six large-scale objects on show
- Concrete wall and windows from the now demolished Robin Hood Gardens housing estate in Poplar
- The 17th Century Agra Colonnade, from the bathhouse of the fort of Agra in India
- A stagecloth for The Ballet Russes that is 10m high – the largest Picasso in the world
- Frank Lloyd Wright’s 1930s Kaufmann Office
- A full-scale Frankfurt Kitchen designed by Margarete Schütte-Lihotzky, which transformed kitchen design in the 20th century
- Torrijos Palace dome
Match info:
Manchester City 2
Sterling (8'), Walker (52')
Newcastle United 1
Yedlin (30')
Chinese Grand Prix schedule (in UAE time)
Friday: First practice - 6am; Second practice - 10am
Saturday: Final practice - 7am; Qualifying - 10am
Sunday: Chinese Grand Prix - 10.10am
Mohammed bin Zayed Majlis
Mohammed bin Zayed Majlis
Mica
Director: Ismael Ferroukhi
Stars: Zakaria Inan, Sabrina Ouazani
3 stars
