Iranian and US officials, with the EU acting as mediators, held two days of talks in Doha in a bid to break a months-long stalemate, but no progress was made on Iran’s central demand for the removal of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and the list of foreign terrorist organizations. “Not only did Iran not accept the offer at the table, but it also added other issues that do not fall under the JCPOA. [Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action] “with maximalist and unrealistic demands,” French Ambassador to the UN Nicolas de Riviere said on Thursday. Wider talks have stalled since March, but recent new restrictions on UN arms inspectors – as well as the acceleration of uranium enrichment by Iran – have given rise to a sudden urgency in the crisis. Western leaders will have to take decisive action, including imposing UN sanctions in weeks, if the nuclear inspectorate continues to fail to carry out its monitoring tasks. During a special session of the UN Security Council, Barbara Woodward, the UK envoy, warned Iran that a better deal would not be offered. Olof Skoog, the EU ambassador to the United Nations, said: “I am concerned that we will not cross the finish line. My message is: seize the opportunity to complete the agreement, based on the text on the table. It’s time to dump her and move on. [agreement] is now. “ The impasse – Iran’s growing enrichment and ballistic missile activity – also affects European leaders. “Iran’s nuclear program has never been more advanced than it is today, and Iran’s nuclear escalation is a threat to international peace and security,” Woodward warned. “At the current rate of enrichment, by the end of this year, Iran is likely to have enough enriched material to rapidly produce high-enriched uranium with 90% enrichment for many nuclear devices,” he said. “Iran also continues to develop ballistic missiles in a way that is inconsistent with UN resolutions.” Subscribe to the First Edition, our free daily newsletter – every morning at 7 p.m. BST In a joint statement, Germany, France and the United Kingdom said Iran was testing ballistic missiles designed to be capable of carrying nuclear weapons, including launches using such ballistic missile technology. The statement said: “Just a few days ago, Iran conducted another test of a space launch vehicle, which contains dual-use technology that can be used to build long-range ballistic missiles and intercontinental ballistic missiles.” The Iranian ambassador, Majid Takht-Ravanchi, said an agreement “was not inaccessible”, but that success required significant changes in US policy, especially with regard to sanctions. He also said that guarantees are needed that the US will not abandon the agreement again as they did under Donald Trump in 2018.
