Muted hopes as Iran N-deal talks resume

Vienna, Nov. 29: Talks over Iran’s tattered 2015 nuclear deal with world powers have resumed in Vienna. That’s according to Iran’s state-run IRNA news agency, which reported the start of the talks Monday after a more than five-month hiatus. The remaining signatories to the nuclear deal formally known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action — Iran, Russia, China, France, Germany and Britain — convened at the Palais Coburg, the luxury hotel where the agreement was signed six years ago.

The last round of talks, aimed at bringing Iran back into compliance with the agreement and paving the way for the US to rejoin, was held in June. Since then, the task has only become more difficult. The US is not at the table because it unilaterally pulled out of the deal in 2018 under then-President Donald Trump, who restored and augmented American sanctions in a campaign of “maximum pressure” to try to force Iran into renegotiating the pact.

President Joe Biden has signalled that he wants to rejoin the deal. A US delegation headed by the administration’s special envoy for Iran, Robert Malley, is participating indirectly in the talks, with diplomats from the other countries acting as go-betweens. The nuclear deal saw Iran limit its enrichment of uranium in exchange for the lifting of economic sanctions.

Since the deal’s collapse, Iran now enriches small amounts of uranium up to 60% purity — a short step from weapons-grade levels of 90%. Iran also spins advanced centrifuges barred by the accord and its uranium stockpile now far exceeds the accord’s limits.

Iran maintains its atomic programme is peaceful. However, US intelligence agencies and international inspectors say Iran had an organised nuclear weapons programme up until 2003.

Nonproliferation experts fear the brinkmanship could push Tehran toward even more-extreme measures to try and force the West to lift sanctions. Making matters more difficult, United Nations nuclear inspectors remain unable to fully monitor Iran’s programme after Tehran limited their access. A trip to Iran last week by the head of the International Atomic Energy Agency, Rafael Grossi, failed to make any progress on that issue.

Russia’s top representative, Mikhail Ulyanov, said he held “useful” informal consultations with officials from Iran and China on Sunday. That meeting, he said, was aimed at “better understanding (...) the updated negotiating position of Tehran.” He tweeted a picture of a meeting Monday he described as a preparatory session with members before Iran joined the discussions.

Enrique Mora, the European Union official chairing the talks, also wrote on Twitter of “intense preparatory work ongoing.” A delegation appointed by new Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi is joining the negotiations for the first time.