Search Site

Trends banner

ADIB H1 pre-tax profit $1.08bn

Q2 pre-tax net profit increases by 14 percent.

AstraZeneca to invest $50bn in US

Bulk of funds to go into a Virginia manufacturing center.

UAB net profit up by 50% for H1

Total assets increase by 11 percent.

TSMC Q2 profit up 60%

TSMC is the world's largest contract maker of chips.

ADNOC shifts OMV stake to XRG

XRG is ADNOC's wholly-owned international investment company.

Macron, European Union hopeful of Iran nuclear deal within days

Macron has taken the lead in international efforts to bail out the Lebanese economy. (AFP)
  • In Washington, National Security Council spokesman John Kirby said the United States was also "cautiously optimistic," but declined to put a timeframe.
  • Iran responded to the EU proposal with proposed changes to which the United States replied in turn without divulging the details.

France’s president Emmanuel Macron said on Thursday that the deal to revive the landmark 2015 nuclear deal would be concluded in the coming days.

Media reports quoted him as saying that he hoped that in the next few days “the JCPOA will be concluded”.

The JCPOA refers to the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action as the deal is formally known.

On Wednesday, the EU’s foreign policy chief voiced hope Wednesday at reviving the Iran nuclear deal within days as Israel’s leader, a strong opponent, made his case with US President Joe Biden.

The Biden administration is eager to restore the deal trashed by former president Donald Trump and says that Iran has backed down on some demands that held up diplomacy for a year and a half.

“I am hoping that in the coming days we are not going to lose this momentum and we can close the deal,” top EU diplomat Josep Borrell said after an informal meeting of the bloc’s foreign ministers in Prague.

“It’s clear that there is a common ground, that we have an agreement that takes into account, I think, everyone’s concerns,” he said.

In Washington, National Security Council spokesman John Kirby said the United States was also “cautiously optimistic,” but declined to put a timeframe.

“We do believe we’re closer now than we have been in certain recent weeks and months due in large part to Iran being willing to drop some of their demands that were not related to the deal at all,” Kirby told reporters.

The European Union put forward on August 8 what it called a final text to restore the landmark 2015 agreement, under which Iran was promised sanctions relief in return for stringent restrictions on its nuclear work.

Trump withdrew the United States in 2018 and imposed sweeping new sanctions. A return by Biden could put more than one million barrels of Iranian oil back on international markets, bringing new relief at a time that crude prices are receding from recent highs.

Iran responded to the EU proposal with proposed changes to which the United States replied in turn without divulging the details.

Israel appeals to Biden

Iran’s arch-rival Israel has stepped up pressure on Western nations to block the deal and is suspected in a shadowy campaign of sabotage and assassinations within Iran to set back the nuclear programme.

Prime Minister Yair Lapid spoke by telephone with Biden after visits to Washington both by Israel’s defence minister and national security adviser, with its spy chief due next week.

Lapid and Biden “spoke at length about the negotiations on a nuclear agreement, and the various efforts to stop Iran’s progress towards a nuclear weapon”, a statement from the Israeli premier’s office said.