Qatar yesterday welcomed hosting indirect talks between the United States and Iran in Doha this week under the auspices of the European Union Coordinator. The Minitry of Foreign Affairs affirmed Qatar’s full readiness to provide an atmosphere that would help all parties make the talks a success. Qatar hopes that the talks would result in positive development which would contribute to reviving the nuclear agreement signed in 2015. The talks would definitely enhance security, stability and peace in the region and open new horizons for broader regional cooperation and dialogue with Iran.
The Iran nuclear agreement, the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), is a landmark accord reached between Iran several world powers. At the heart of negotiations which materialised the JCPOA were the five permanent members of the U N Security Council, namely China, France, Russia, the United Kingdom, the United States plus Germany, the group known as P5+1. The European Union also was an active partner.
Signed after years of intense negotiations, the agreement put limits on Iran’s nuclear programme in exchange for lifting of multilateral sanctions that have been stifling the country’s development for several years. The deal ensured that Iran’s nuclear programme was peaceful while allowing the country to enrich uranium up to 3.67 percent under the 24-hour monitoring by the IAEA.
The deal has been near collapse since President Donald Trump unilaterally withdrew the United States from it in 2018, reinstating devastating banking and oil sanctions. Prior to the agreement, the purging sanctions imposed on the country had already starved its economy of over $100bn in revenues in the 2012-2014 period alone. Trump claimed that the agreement failed to address Iran’s ballistic missile programme and its proxy warfare in the region and he claimed that the sunset provisions would enable Iran to pursue nuclear weapons in the future.
After Joe Biden was elected as the US President, the deal has got a new life and the parties restarted painstaking negotiations to revive the deal in Vienna, but without any tangible progress till now. As the talks are shifting to Doha, all the eyes are on Qatar, as its credibility and skillful diplomacy were instrumental in resolving several issues in the recent times.
As Qatar has been keeping good relations with Iran and the US, it enjoys both the countries’ trust. All through the past years, Doha has consistently supported the revival of JCPOA and has been transmitting messages between Tehran and Washington since last year. Considering Qatar’s international standing and experience of years of powerful diplomacy, warm and friendly relations with all parties involved, its impartial roles in resolving international conflicts and respect for individual sovereignty, the talks being held in Doha will sure crystallize in positive outcome.
