Zarif: Many Parentheses Remain in the Draft of the Final Nuclear Agreement

Despite the optimism expressed by Abbas Araghchi, Iran's Deputy Foreign Minister, regarding the writing of the 'first draft' of the final agreement text with the 1+5 group 'in the coming days', Iran's Foreign Minister states that there are still 'many parentheses' left in this text. Mohammad Javad Zarif, on Sunday evening, May 2, described the drafting of the final agreement text regarding Iran's nuclear program as a 'difficult task' that is 'slowly and steadily progressing.' Zarif also emphasized that 'we are determined to end the manufactured crises and open a new horizon.' Meanwhile, according to IRNA news agency, Hamid Baidi-Nejad, a member of the Iranian nuclear negotiating team, in a note titled 'Why the Complexity of Negotiations on the Nuclear Agreement Text,' spoke of the 'very high sensitivity' of the proposed words regarding the lifting of sanctions on Iran and 'nuclear issues' in the final agreement text between Iran and the 1+5 group. According to Baidi-Nejad, 'the pursuit of these issues is being followed at the highest political level in the decision-making systems of the countries.' The drafting of the final agreement text between Iran and the 1+5 group began on Wednesday, April 21, in Vienna, Austria, with the first topic of this text being how to lift sanctions on Iran, a goal that, according to Abbas Araghchi, will be 'complex' and difficult to achieve. Abbas Araghchi and Majid Takht-Ravanchi, two senior members of the Iranian nuclear negotiating team, have continued drafting this text in New York since Thursday, April 30, during negotiations with Helga Schmid, Deputy Foreign Policy Chief of the European Union. On Friday, May 1, Araghchi expressed hope for the drafting of this text in the coming days while stating that 'the first draft will be full of contentious issues and, as we say, will have parentheses that will need to be decided on later.' Meanwhile, Baidi-Nejad emphasized in his note on Tuesday: 'When an issue of this level enters the decision-making process of countries, it is natural that... the sovereign, political, security, international, and legal dimensions of the issues are also... taken into account, which complicates the negotiation process.' This member of the Iranian nuclear negotiating team also referred to the 'focus of Israel and other Arab and regional countries' on the Iranian nuclear file, stating that 'the significant media attention both domestically and internationally' on the negotiations between Iran and the 1+5 group is 'influential.' Meanwhile, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu stated on Saturday, May 1, that 'if a final nuclear agreement with Iran is reached based on the recent bad Lausanne understanding, the world will be a much more dangerous place.' However, on the same day, U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry stated that 'the stubbornness of Israeli leadership against the framework agreement reached in Lausanne is incomprehensible.' Iran and the 1+5 countries announced on April 2 in Lausanne, Switzerland, that they had defined the 'framework' for the final agreement, which became known as the Lausanne understanding. Following the Lausanne understanding, Iran and the world powers are expected to reach a comprehensive and final agreement by July 1.