Umamah Bakharia 

The European Union (EU) says it had put forward a “final” text to revive the 2015 Iran nuclear deal, days after indirect talks between U.S. and Iranian officials wrapped up in Vienna.

In a tweet, EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell say, “What can be negotiated has been negotiated, and it’s now in a final text. However, behind every technical issue and every paragraph lies a political decision that needs to be taken in the capitals.”

Even though the EU had earlier said no changes would be made to the deal, which has been under negotiation for 15 months, the union says it expects responses from the parties in the coming weeks.

Discussing this on this weeks ‘Media Lens’, analyst Ebrahim Deen says there is a possibility that the deals go through.

“There is some room for compromise – but economically and situationally both of the countries need each other. Oil prices are high – Iran has a lot of oil,” says Deen. Adding that Iran could benefit from the deal with the the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA).

In 2018, then U.S. President Donald Trump had ditched the deal and reimposed harsh U.S. sanctions to choke off Iran’s oil exports, which was its major source of export income and government revenue.

However, now that the deal is in talks, Deen says the signing of the deal would help slash oil and fuel costs globally. “From a South African side companies like MTN will be able to benefit because they invested in the economy,” he says.

Meanwhile, many Saudi regions have refrained from the deal as they prefer Iran being out of the system.