Iran's foreign minister said on Wednesday that two issues remain with the US in paused negotiations to restore the 2015 nuclear deal between Tehran and world powers.
Iran has been engaged in direct talks in Vienna to revive the accord, known formally as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), with France, Germany, Britain, Russia and China directly. The US, which unilaterally pulled out of the deal in 2018, is participating indirectly.
“We had four issues as our red lines”, but “two issues have almost been resolved”, Hossein Amirabdollahian was quoted as saying on Wednesday by state news agency IRNA. He added that “two issues remain, including [an] economic guarantee".
He did not elaborate on the second issue.
“If the American side fulfils our two remaining demands today, we will be ready to go to Vienna tomorrow,” he said.
More than 10 months of negotiations had brought the parties close to renewing the accord.
But the talks were halted after Russia this month demanded guarantees that western sanctions imposed following its invasion of Ukraine would not damage its trade with Iran.
Mr Amirabdollahian's remarks come a day after his visit to Moscow, where his Russian counterpart Sergey Lavrov said Moscow had received the necessary guarantees from Washington on trade with Iran.
The 2015 agreement gave Iran sanctions relief in exchange for curbs on its nuclear programme to guarantee that Tehran could not develop a nuclear weapon — something it has always denied wanting to do.
But Washington's unilateral withdrawal from the accord in 2018 under the president at the time, Donald Trump, and the reimposition of biting economic sanctions prompted Iran to begin rolling back on its own commitments.
During the talks in Vienna, Iran has repeatedly called for guarantees from the administration of US President Joe Biden that there will be no repeat of Mr Trump's pull-out.
Iranian and US delegations in Vienna do not communicate directly, but messages are passed through other participants and the EU, the talks' co-ordinator.
“We will continue to exchange our messages to the American side … through [the EU's] Enrique Mora,” Iran's foreign minister said.
The Vienna talks aim to return the US to the nuclear deal, including through the lifting of sanctions on Iran, and to ensure Tehran's full compliance with its commitments.
France on Wednesday said that concluding the talks was “urgent".
“We have taken note of Russia's position. Once again, we call on all parties to adopt a responsible approach and to make the necessary decisions in order to finalise the just and comprehensive agreement that is on the table,” a foreign ministry spokeswoman said.
“It is critically urgent that a conclusion be reached.”
The comments come the same day as two British Iranians flew home after being released from years of detention in Iran and as the UK government confirmed it had paid a long-standing debt over a cancelled defence contract with Tehran
Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe and Anoosheh Ashoori “will be reunited with their families and loved ones”, the UK's Foreign Secretary Liz Truss said Wednesday.
She also announced that Morad Tahbaz, an Iranian American who also holds British citizenship, has been released from prison “on furlough” to his home in Tehran.
During the nuclear talks in Vienna, Iranian and US officials have signalled that the two sides are indirectly discussing a possible prisoner exchange.
The countries have made prisoner swaps in the past and are currently known to hold four of each other's citizens.
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Mercer, the investment consulting arm of US services company Marsh & McLennan, expects its wealth division to at least double its assets under management (AUM) in the Middle East as wealth in the region continues to grow despite economic headwinds, a company official said.
Mercer Wealth, which globally has $160 billion in AUM, plans to boost its AUM in the region to $2-$3bn in the next 2-3 years from the present $1bn, said Yasir AbuShaban, a Dubai-based principal with Mercer Wealth.
“Within the next two to three years, we are looking at reaching $2 to $3 billion as a conservative estimate and we do see an opportunity to do so,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Mercer does not directly make investments, but allocates clients’ money they have discretion to, to professional asset managers. They also provide advice to clients.
“We have buying power. We can negotiate on their (client’s) behalf with asset managers to provide them lower fees than they otherwise would have to get on their own,” he added.
Mercer Wealth’s clients include sovereign wealth funds, family offices, and insurance companies among others.
From its office in Dubai, Mercer also looks after Africa, India and Turkey, where they also see opportunity for growth.
Wealth creation in Middle East and Africa (MEA) grew 8.5 per cent to $8.1 trillion last year from $7.5tn in 2015, higher than last year’s global average of 6 per cent and the second-highest growth in a region after Asia-Pacific which grew 9.9 per cent, according to consultancy Boston Consulting Group (BCG). In the region, where wealth grew just 1.9 per cent in 2015 compared with 2014, a pickup in oil prices has helped in wealth generation.
BCG is forecasting MEA wealth will rise to $12tn by 2021, growing at an annual average of 8 per cent.
Drivers of wealth generation in the region will be split evenly between new wealth creation and growth of performance of existing assets, according to BCG.
Another general trend in the region is clients’ looking for a comprehensive approach to investing, according to Mr AbuShaban.
“Institutional investors or some of the families are seeing a slowdown in the available capital they have to invest and in that sense they are looking at optimizing the way they manage their portfolios and making sure they are not investing haphazardly and different parts of their investment are working together,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Some clients also have a higher appetite for risk, given the low interest-rate environment that does not provide enough yield for some institutional investors. These clients are keen to invest in illiquid assets, such as private equity and infrastructure.
“What we have seen is a desire for higher returns in what has been a low-return environment specifically in various fixed income or bonds,” he said.
“In this environment, we have seen a de facto increase in the risk that clients are taking in things like illiquid investments, private equity investments, infrastructure and private debt, those kind of investments were higher illiquidity results in incrementally higher returns.”
The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, one of the largest sovereign wealth funds, said in its 2016 report that has gradually increased its exposure in direct private equity and private credit transactions, mainly in Asian markets and especially in China and India. The authority’s private equity department focused on structured equities owing to “their defensive characteristics.”
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Name: Hassan Mohsen Elhais
Position: legal consultant with Al Rowaad Advocates and Legal Consultants.
