{"id":252801,"date":"2021-12-10T12:35:28","date_gmt":"2021-12-10T17:35:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.ncr-iran.org\/en\/?p=252801"},"modified":"2023-02-03T01:18:30","modified_gmt":"2023-02-03T00:18:30","slug":"optimism-over-iran-nuclear-deal-is-fading-but-concrete-action-is-still-lacking","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ncr-iran.org\/en\/news\/nuclear\/optimism-over-iran-nuclear-deal-is-fading-but-concrete-action-is-still-lacking\/","title":{"rendered":"Optimism Over Iran Nuclear Deal Is Fading, but Concrete Action Is Still Lacking"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Palacio-Coburg2-min\"<\/p>\n

Although talks aimed at restoring the 2015 Iran nuclear deal resumed in Vienna last week, most participants in those talks appear to be even less optimistic about the prospects for an agreement than they were\u00a0during the five months when\u00a0the process remained stalled.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The Iranian regime\u00a0singlehandedly caused that delay, citing the need to reset and shift responsibility to new personnel following\u00a0the regime\u2019s sham presidential<\/a> election. But the new president, Ebrahim Raisi, repeatedly assured the international community that the Vienna talks would resume \u201csoon.\u201d<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

On Saturday, one US State Department official assessed the lessons of the previous week\u2019s negotiations in remarks to the Washington Post, noting that it revealed that\u00a0Tehran\u2019s\u00a0process of \u201cgetting ready\u201d turned out to involve \u201ccontinuing to accelerate their nuclear program in particularly provocative ways,\u201d\u00a0in an effort to\u00a0secure leverage that could be turned into comprehensive sanctions relief and outsized demands.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Even while the Raisi administration<\/a> was offering its assurances of an imminent return to diplomacy, various Iranian officials reiterated and even intensified the demands that had apparently prevented prior negotiations from reaching a conclusion. Throughout the process, Tehran has insisted that the US must immediately remove all economic sanctions that were re-imposed or newly imposed following its withdrawal from the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action in 2018. The regime has offered nothing in return but has explicitly stated that questions of\u00a0its\u00a0return to compliance would be resolved only after sanctions relief was verified.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The Iranian regime\u2019s\u00a0chief nuclear negotiator dug in his heels on this point just ahead of the seventh round of talks beginning last Monday. He then went on to say that\u00a0all of\u00a0the terms that had supposedly been agreed upon in the prior six rounds were fair game for reassessment. Another US official described the situation as Tehran attempting to \u201cpocket all of\u00a0the compromises that others \u2013 the\u00a0US in particular\u00a0\u2013 have\u00a0made and then ask for more.\u201d<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

It is no wonder that the State Department is now warning<\/a> about the availability of various other \u201ctools\u201d to take the place of diplomacy if the regime delays and non-cooperation persist. It is only slightly more surprising that the European signatories to the JCPOA seem to be backing up those threats while unequivocally criticizing Tehran\u2019s lack of seriousness. Britain, France, and Germany have all called upon the Iranian regime to return with more realistic proposals this week while affirming that all of its existing proposals violate prior compromises.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/div>
US official: Iran to blame for fallout of nuclear talks<\/div><\/div>
<\/div>
<\/div>
<\/div><\/div><\/div>