ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - The United States Secretary of State Anthony Blinken acknowledged on Tuesday that the US is preparing “alternatives” should efforts to restore Iran’s nuclear capability stall, as Tehran's chief negotiator Ali Bagheri told state media that diplomacy is “a two-way street” and Iran’s delegation was still seeking to reduce the differences between negotiators.
Formal work to revive the 2015 nuclear deal, withdrawn by former US President Donald Trump in 2018, began on Monday following the seventh round of talks in Vienna on November 29, with Iranian representatives negotiating with delegations from Britain, France, China, Russia and Germany.
European diplomats warned on Monday that time was “running out” to rescue the pact, which they described as becoming an "empty shell" if negotiations do not progress.
As concerns grow around the ability of negotiators from Iran and the P4+1 to revive the deal which would also reduce sanctions imposed on the country, Blinken told reporters during a visit to Indonesia on Tuesday that America was continuing “to pursue diplomacy because it remains at this moment the best option, but we are actively engaging with allies and partners on alternatives."
Last week, President Joe Biden warned that the US was preparing "additional measures" against Iran in case the talks to limit Iran’s nuclear capabilities fail, leading many to speculate that a military response may be on the horizon.
US Secretary of Defense Lloyd J. Austin met with Israeli Defense Minister Benjamin Gantz on Thursday to discuss shared concerns regarding Iran’s nuclear provocations, according to a press statement of the meeting which confirmed US resolve to prevent Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon. They also considered possible military exercises to destroy Iran’s nuclear facilities should talks fail, according to Reuters.
The nuclear deal saw Iran limit its enrichment of uranium, at one stage down to 3.67 percent purity, in exchange for the lifting of economic sanctions. Iran has repeatedly claimed that its nuclear programme is peaceful, and CIA head William Burns said last week that the US does not have any evidence of an Iranian decision to weaponise its nuclear programme.
Despite this, Western powers are concerned that its stockpile of enriched uranium significantly exceeds that and could be used to develop a nuclear weapon. Since the deal’s collapse in 2018, with the imposition of economic sanctions and subsequent disregard for the deal's limits on nuclear activities, Iran has enriched a small amount of uranium up to 60 percent purity - not too far off from the 90 percent level needed to create an atomic bomb.
Following positive comments on the progress of talks from his perspective on Sunday, Bagheri said on Tuesday that Iran had presented its proposed texts on the agreement to revive the nuclear deal, also known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA): one on sanctions, and the other on its nuclear activity.
"We have worked constructively and flexibly to reduce differences," Iranian state media IRNA reported Bagheri as saying, adding that "diplomacy is a two-way street. If there is a will to make amends, the way to a good agreement is quickly paved."
Speaking to the BBC this week, Iran’s ambassador to the UK Mohsen Baharvand countered charges that the country was playing for time, and expressed concerns over a lack of trust. “If I was there, I would have told them if you're concerned about time, please start removing sanctions. At least show us you're serious… We don't trust you,” he said.
Baharvand told reporters in London on Friday that a deal to repay the £400 million ($530 million) debt Britain owes the country over 1,500 tanks that were never delivered more than 40 years ago was established this summer, “but two days after the signature of that deal the UK government said they could not implement it because of US sanctions.”
According to Bagheri, the new administration in power in Iran since June, led by ultraconservative President Ebrahim Raisi, has raised additional points to those negotiated by its reformist predecessors. Iran wants a lifting of all US sanctions imposed after Trump's withdrawal but Biden's administration has said it will only negotiate measures taken by Trump over the nuclear programme, not steps imposed over other concerns such as human rights.
The US delegation arrived in Vienna this weekend, although it has not negotiated directly with Iran since unilaterally leaving the agreement.
Iran’s Foreign Ministry spokesman Saeed Khatibzadeh said on Saturday that the country was preparing to enter talks with Russia on signing a long-term cooperation agreement seeking to strengthen relations between the countries.
