Iran nuclear talks resume as pressure for deal grows
Iran has entered a new round of talks on reviving the 2015 nuclear deal, asking for a mechanism to remove US sanctions.
European officials said they hoped for an agreement that would rein in Tehran’s nuclear activities. But Iran’s refusal to halt its programme was “undermining international security”, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s spokesman said.
Negotiators met in Vienna yesterday for the first time in five months after talks were delayed following the election of Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi.
A spokesman for the Iranian Foreign Ministry said that its delegation in Vienna had “a firm determination to reach an agreement and is looking forward to fruitful talks”.
The US has agreed to lift the “maximum pressure” sanctions imposed by Donald Trump after he withdrew from the deal in 2018 in return for Tehran halting its nuclear programme.
But Iran, which declined to meet directly with the US negotiating team, has refused to co-operate in any capacity unless sanctions are lifted without conditions. It also wants an apology for Mr Trump’s actions and seeks guarantees that would make any future deal against another US withdrawal watertight.
There are growing concerns that with Iran potentially a month away from developing enough uranium to make a bomb, a failure in the weeklong talks in the Austrian capital would have severe security implications for the Middle East.
“We recognise the challenges that Iran’s nuclear programme has never been more advanced than today and that’s undermining international security,” Mr Johnson’s spokesman said.
He called for a swift conclusion to negotiations with a “fair and comprehensive” deal on the table if Iran returned to full compliance with its commitments.
“If a deal is not swiftly concluded and Iran continues its nuclear escalation then they will be responsible for a missed opportunity and the collapse of the deal,” he said.
Russia’s envoy to the talks said Moscow was cautiously optimistic but aware of the challenges.
“We have no reasonable and acceptable alternative to a successful conclusion of the talks,” Mikhail Ulyanov said.
UK Foreign Secretary Liz Truss reminded the Iranians that “all options are on the table” if the negotiations failed to result in a deal and stop the building of a nuclear bomb.
She spoke as the pressure for an agreement intensified.
While intelligence estimates put Iran’s ability to make a viable nuclear warhead with a missile delivery system at two years, if it enriches uranium to 90 per cent purity – the level required for bomb-making – a military response is probable.
Israel, which has already conducted sabotage missions to delay this outcome, could send air strikes using deep penetration weapons.
While America could join Israeli attacks, Britain also appeared willing to help after a meeting between Ms Truss and Israeli Foreign Minister Yair Lapid yesterday.
The pair announced increased military collaboration, signing an agreement in London on cyber security, defence and trade. Ms Truss said Britain
UK Foreign Secretary Liz Truss said that ‘all options are on the table’ if the nuclear negotiations in Vienna failed
would “work flat-out to prevent the Iranian regime from gaining nuclear weapons”.
“We are absolutely determined to prevent Iran from securing a nuclear weapon and all options are on the table,” she said.
Mr Lapid, who will become Israel’s prime minister in two years, said that if sanctions were lifted Iran would use the billions in extra income to further develop its bomb programme.
“The Iranians are coming to these talks for only one reason: to get sanctions lifted,” he said.
“They need money for Hezbollah, for the [Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps], for their global terrorist network and for the continued race towards nuclear weapons.”
He said that a nuclear-armed Iran would push the Middle East into an atomic weapons race and put the bomb in the hands of “fanatics who are engaged in terrorism as a way of life”.