Nuclear talks: Hopes for settlement that would bring Tehran back into international fold
The resumption of international
talks in Vienna on reviving the Iranian nuclear agreement came on Monday,
November 29, after months of suspension, bringing renewed hopes for a
settlement between the Iranian regime and major powers, which would bring
Tehran back into compliance with the restrictions stipulated in the 2015
agreement.
While Tehran refrains from meeting
with American negotiators face to face, the United States is represented by a
delegation led by US Special Envoy for Iran Robert Malley, who is participating
in the nuclear talks in Vienna indirectly through European mediators.
Obstacles
The talks have encountered several
obstacles, the most prominent of which is the disagreement between the two
parties regarding the return to the agreement as just the beginning of other
arrangements, as the Iranians insist on what the Europeans describe as
“unrealistic” demands, such as the insistence on dropping all sanctions imposed
by the United States and the European Union since 2017, including sanctions
that are not related to the nuclear program but to other files such as support
for terrorism, human rights, and a return to square one before Washington
withdrew from the agreement.
The United States also refuses to be
satisfied with returning to the nuclear agreement in its old form without
agreeing on other arrangements related to curbing Iran’s missile program, its
interference in the region, and its support for terrorist cells around the
world.
The parties to the Joint
Comprehensive Plan of Action met again in Vienna after nearly six months to
discuss a mutual return to the deal by both the United States and Iran, but the
gap gave time for new obstacles to take root, such as the major crisis between
Tehran and the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) due to Tehran's
intransigence with the inspectors and its refusal to cooperate with the agency
in the inspection of some sites.
Short-term
agreement
The most likely scenario is that the
United States will conclude a short-term and limited agreement that freezes
some of the most dangerous activities related to uranium enrichment in return
for a limited easing of some sanctions in order to buy some time, as Tehran is
closer to having a nuclear bomb than it was before when the deal was struck in
2015.
However, limiting the chances of
this scenario happening is the fear of irritating US Republican representatives
who refuse to make such concessions to Iran.
This round of negotiations is the
seventh of its kind and the first after current Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi
took office in August, and he is known for being tough on foreign and domestic
policy issues.