Page 14 - IRANRptJun22

2.7 Former leading diplomats urge Iran, US in open letter not to let slip opportunity to revive JCPOA
Former leading diplomats of 14 nations have warned in an open letter that the talks aimed at finding a path to restoring the 2015 nuclear deal with Iran are heading to a “corrosive stalemate devolving into a cycle of increased nuclear tension”. They have called on Tehran and Washington to show more flexibility in their demands for the reinstatement of the accord, also known as the JCPOA.
The open letter was coordinated by the European Leadership Network. Signatories include former permanent representatives to the UN, former foreign secretaries, previous permanent representatives to Nato and ex-defence ministers.
The year-long Vienna talks aimed at resurrecting the JCPOA—designed to curb and keep checks on Iran’s nuclear programme in return for the dropping of sanctions on Tehran—have not advanced for several weeks, with a dispute over whether the US will lift its foreign terrorist organisation (FTO) designation of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) seemingly blocking progress.
The letter signatories noted that a final draft text of a renewed agreement was ready to be signed and warned that “for US and European leaders to let slip the opportunity to defuse a nuclear crisis in the Middle East would be a grave mistake”.
The letter’s authors acknowledge the politics of the FTO designation are difficult—with Joe Biden in the US facing strong resistance to the idea of ending the designation—but they observed that “there are ways to provide the counter-terrorism benefits of the current designation while still accommodating Iran’s specific request, and consider it imperative that these be fully explored”.
They added: “For its part, Iran should not expect a nuclear deal to address broader areas of disagreement between Tehran and Washington. Both sides must approach this final phase of negotiation with an understanding that the strategic implications of failure would be grave and profound.”
2.8 Polls & Sociology
Tehran ends day ranked as city with worst air pollution on planet
Tehran took the title of ‘city with worst air pollution’ in the world rankings on May 24. Local records were broken amid sand and dust storms (SDS) that combined with road traffic and industrial emissions. Schools were shut, football matches were cancelled and flights across the Persian Gulf region were rerouted.
A ninth wave of SDS originating in Iraq, Jordan and Saudi Arabia wreaked havoc across the region. Tehran was particularly hard hit. The Iran Meteorological Office said meters recorded PM-2.5 particles at over 500, going beyond the limit of its reporting capacity.
The storms have put thousands of people in the Middle East in hospital in recent weeks. Dozens of deaths attributed to SDS have been registered. Sandstorms from the Arabian deserts are regular features of spring in the Middle East, but 2022 has seen the worst ever concentrations of SDS, forcing
14 IRAN Country Report June 2022 www.intellinews.com