Muted hopes at Iran nuclear talks
Negotiations with Tehran’s new hard-line government resume in an effort to revive the 2015 accord.
VIENNA — Negotiators in Vienna resumed talks Monday over reviving Iran’s 2015 nuclear deal with world powers, with the United States taking part at arm’s leng th, as in previous rounds since the Trump administration pulled out of the accord three years ago.
Hopes of quick progress were muted after a hard-line new government in Tehran led to a more than fivemonth hiatus in negotiations. But the European Union official chairing the talks sounded an upbeat note after the first meeting concluded.
“I feel positive that we can be doing important things for the next weeks,” EU diplomat Enrique Mora told reporters.
All participants showed a willingness to listen to the positions and “sensibilities” of the new Iranian delegation, Mora said. At the same time, Tehran’s team made clear that it wants to engage in “serious work” to bring the accord back to life, he said.
The remaining signatories to the nuclear deal 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.
A U.S. delegation headed by the Biden administration’s special envoy for Iran, Robert Malley, stayed at a nearby hotel, where it was being briefed on the talks by diplomats from the other countries.
President Biden has signaled that he wants to rejoin the talks. The last round, aimed at bringing Iran back into compliance with the agreement and paving the way for the U.S. to rejoin, was held in June.
“There is a sense of urgency in putting an end to the suffering of the Iranian people,” said Mora, referring to the crippling sanctions the U.S. reimposed on Iran when it quit the accord. “And there is a sense of urgency in putting the Iranian nuclear program under the transparent monitoring of the international community.
“What has been the norm over the first six rounds will be again the practice in this seventh round,” Mora added. “Nothing new on working methods.”
The United States left the deal in 2018 under President Trump’s “maximum pressure” campaign against Tehran.
The nuclear deal saw Iran limit its enrichment of uranium in exchange for the lifting of economic sanctions. Since the deal’s collapse, Iran is enriching small amounts of uranium up to 60% purity — a short step from the weapons-grade level of 90%. Iran also spins advanced centrifuges barred by the accord, and its uranium stockpile far exceeds the accord’s limits.
Iran maintains that its atomic program is peaceful. However, U.S. intelligence agencies and international inspectors say the country had an organized nuclear weapons program up until 2003.
Nonproliferation experts fear that the brinkmanship could push Tehran toward even more extreme measures to try to force the West to lift sanctions.
Making matters more difficult, United Nations nuclear inspectors remain unable to fully monitor Iran’s program 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 progress on that issue.
Russia’s top representative at the Vienna talks, Mikhail Ulyanov, said he held “useful” informal consultations Sunday with officials from Iran and China. That meeting, he said, was aimed at “better understanding ... the updated negotiating position of Tehran.”
A delegation appointed by new Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi is joining the negotiations for the first time. Iran has made maximalist demands, including calls for the U.S. to unfreeze $10 billion in assets as an initial goodwill gesture.
Ali Bagheri, an Iranian nuclear negotiator, told state television late Sunday that the Islamic Republic “has entered the talks with serious willpower and strong preparation.” However, he cautioned, “we cannot anticipate a time frame on the length of these talks now.”
Meanwhile, Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Saeed Khatibzadeh suggested Monday that the U.S. could “receive a ticket for returning to the room” of the nuclear talks if it agrees to “the real lifting of sanctions.” He also criticized a recent opinion piece written by the foreign ministers of Britain and Israel that pledged to “work night and day to prevent the Iranian regime from ever becoming a nuclear power.”
Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett, in a video address delivered to those negotiating in Vienna, warned that he saw Iran trying to “end sanctions in exchange for almost nothing.”
“Iran deserves no rewards, no bargain deals and no sanctions relief in return for their brutality,” Bennett said in the video, which he later posted to Twitter. “I call upon our allies around the world: Do not give in to Iran’s nuclear blackmail.”
After a meeting with Israeli Foreign Minister Yair Lapid, British Foreign Secretary Liz Truss called the Vienna gathering “the last opportunity for the Iranians to come to the table.” “We want those talks to work,” she said. “But if they don’t work, all options are on the table.”
In an interview with NPR that was broadcast Friday, U.S. negotiator Malley said signs from Iran “are not particularly encouraging.”
Russia’s Ulyanov said there was pressure to get the process moving.
“The talks can’t last forever,” Ulyanov tweeted Sunday. “There is the obvious need to speed up the process.”
Mora, the EU official, said participants in Monday’s meeting agreed on an agenda for the coming days. Diplomats plan to discuss the issue of sanctions Tuesday, followed by a meeting Wednesday on Iran’s nuclear commitments.
‘There is a sense of urgency in putting the Iranian nuclear program under the transparent monitoring of the international community.’
— Enrique Mora, European Union diplomat