Nuclear agreement hangs in balance as nation votes

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates — Iran’s tattered nuclear deal with world powers hangs in the balance as the country prepares to vote on Friday for a new president and diplomats press on to get both the U.S. and Tehran to reenter the accord.

The deal represents the signature accomplishment of the relatively moderate President Hassan Rouhani’s eight years in office: suspending crushing sanctions in exchange for strict monitoring and limiting of Iran’s uranium stockpile.

The deal’s collapse with former President Donald Trump’s decision to unilaterally withdraw America from the agreement in 2018 spiraled into a series of attacks and confrontations across the Middle East. It also prompted Tehran to enrich uranium purity levels just shy of weaponsgrade levels.

With analysts and polling suggesting that a hardline candidate already targeted by U.S. sanctions will win Friday’s vote, a return to the deal may be possible but it likely won’t lead to a further detente between Iran and the West.

Since President Biden took office, his diplomats have been working with other world powers to come up with a way to return both the U.S. and Iran to the deal in negotiations in Vienna.

In Friday’s presidential election, hardline judiciary chief Ebrahim Raisi appears to be the frontrunner. He’s already said he wants to return Iran to the nuclear deal to take advantage of its economic benefits. But given his belligerent statements toward the U.S., further cooperation with the West appears unlikely.

Vahid Salemi / Associated Press 2005 Iranian women formed a human chain in 2005 at the Isfahan Uranium Conversion Facility, in support of the nation’s nuclear program.