Diplomatic pressure builds on Tehran to resume nuclear talks

ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - This week has seen a flurry of diplomatic activity around Tehran and Washington as pressure is building on Iran to resume stalled nuclear talks in Vienna.

The European Union’s foreign policy chief Josep Borrell was in Washington and EU envoy Enrique Mora, who chairs the talks in Vienna, was in Tehran on Thursday. Iran and its nuclear program were also on the agenda when the foreign ministers of Saudi Arabia, Israel, and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) visited Washington. And Iran's foreign minister discussed it in phone calls with Moscow and Beijing.

Former US President Donald Trump in 2018 pulled out of the landmark deal, formally known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), that reined in Iran’s nuclear program in exchange for sanctions relief. His successor Joe Biden has said he wants to return to the deal and several rounds of talks were held this spring in Vienna to bring the US back on board, lifting sanctions, and Tehran back into compliance with its nuclear commitments. The American and Iranian delegations in Vienna have not yet met directly.

The talks were paused in June at Iran’s request to allow for a new president and administration to take office in August, but pressure is now building on Tehran to return to the negotiating table.

Since the US pulled out of the deal, Iran has steadily increased its nuclear activity, bringing more advanced centrifuges online and enriching uranium to 20 and 60 percent, far above the 3.67 threshold set in the accord.

“We have made it clear that time is the enemy of a potential agreement as Iran is taking advantage of the delay to step up its nuclear violations, making the return to the JCPOA increasingly uncertain,” a French foreign ministry spokesperson said on Friday.

Iran’s economy has been strangled by the American sanctions and it is wary about trusting Washington.

Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister Ali Bagheri told the European Union’s Enrique Mora on Thursday that “Tehran is always ready for serious negotiations that result in a practical agreement and not merely a paper agreement. He pointed out that there are serious doubts about the real will of the United States to fulfill its obligations.”

Iran’s Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian told his Russian counterpart Sergey Lavrov that the talks with Mora were positive and they agreed to “continue consultations between Bagheri and Mora in Brussels in the next two weeks.”

Borrell, wrapping up his trip to Washington, told reporters that he is aware Iran wants to meet with him ahead of resuming negotiations with the other parties to the accord. “I’m ready, I’m ready to do that,” he said, AFP reported. “But time is pressing.”

He said the new Iranian government has had time to review the file and give instructions on negotiations and now it’s time to resume talks because there is no “Plan B.”

"It's too important, what is at stake. The only way to prevent Iran from becoming nuclear is to go back to the deal,” he said.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Washington is considering “other options” if talks do not resume. He made his comments in a joint press conference on Wednesday with Israeli Foreign Minister Yair Lapid and UAE Foreign Minister Sheikh Abdullah Bin Zayed al-Nayhan.

Blinken said diplomacy is the best way to limit Iran’s nuclear program, “but it takes two to engage in diplomacy, and we have not - we have not seen from Iran a willingness to do that at this point.”

“We are prepared to turn to other options if Iran doesn’t change course, and these consultations with our allies and partners are a part of that,” he added.

Israel’s Lapid warned, “Every day that passes, every delay in negotiations brings Iran closer to a nuclear bomb. The Iranians are clearly dragging their heels, trying to cheat the world to continue to enrich uranium, to develop their ballistic missile program."

Iran has said that its nuclear activity is for peaceful purposes and it does not want a nuclear weapon.

US special envoy for Iran Robert Malley is visiting the UAE, Qatar, and Saudi Arabia this week “to discuss regional issues and our attempt to negotiate a mutual return to the JCPOA.”

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