ُThe talks in Vienna aimed at reviving the Iran nuclear deal, from which former US President Donald Trump withdrew in 2018, have reached a critical phase.
They are already into their eighth round and the gaps between the negotiating parties are showing no signs of narrowing. Iran’s European interlocutors – the US delegation remains in a hotel across the road – want a quick deal based on a partial lifting of sanctions, a freeze on enrichment, and a full return of inspection by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).
The Iranians want a full return to the deal they struck in 2015, all sanctions imposed on them lifted, a guarantee that the US could not walk away from the deal in the future, and a system of verification.
Of these, the most difficult to achieve is verification. The lack of a system of verification was, in the view of the current Iranian government, the main failing of the original deal. It allowed the US administration under President Barack Obama to continue sanctions.
Donald Trump under pressure from the then Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, pulled out of the Iran deal and began a policy of “maximum pressure”. Joe Biden reversed much of what Trump did in his first days in office but he did not, significantly, reverse this policy which continues to this day.
Two big sticks
The Europeans – Britain, France, Germany and the EU – are waving what they imagine to be two big sticks should the talks collapse. The first is a return to United Nations sanctions, because not only would the talks have collapsed, but the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) would go too.
Read more: https://www.middleeasteye.net/opinion/iran-us-three-conflicts-israel-attack-allow
