Chris Lange, FISM News

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Indirect talks in Vienna between the United States and Iran resumed Tuesday, as U.S. officials continue to try to salvage the 2015 Iran nuclear deal. Optimistic statements coming out of Iran and Russia, coupled with Iran’s increased demands, appear to show that the U.S. continues to operate at a disadvantage with little progress being made in the effort to rein in Tehran’s atomic activities.

Following Tuesday’s negotiations, Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdollahian said a deal could be reached in the future if other parties exhibit “good faith.” Meanwhile, Russian envoy Mikhail Ulyanov said the eighth round of talks have resulted in “indisputable progress,” according to Reuters.

State Department spokesperson Ned Price struck a more cautious note, saying that, while some progress has been made, it remains to be seen whether or not Tehran is willing to build upon those gains. 

“It’s really too soon to tell whether Iran has returned with a more constructive approach to this round,” Price said. “We are now assessing, in the course of these talks, whether the Iranians came back with an agenda of new issues or preliminary solutions to the ones already presented.” Price added that the U.S. delegation in the coming days will be in a better position to ascertain whether Iran is prepared to come to the table with a “fundamentally different position.” 

The U.S. and other Western nations have accused Iran of deliberately slowing negotiations, as the number-one state sponsor of terrorism focuses on getting U.S. sanctions lifted while continuing to push ahead with its nuclear program. Tehran officials still refuse to meet with their U.S. counterparts; instead, other parties – China, Russia, Germany, France, and Britain – are acting as intermediaries in the talks while the U.S. is relegated to a placatory, rather than powerful, position. 

While Iran has indicated that future negotiations are dependent upon sanctions being lifted, Western negotiators maintain their position that sanctions and nuclear talks must both be part of the agreement known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPoA). 

The U.K., France, and Germany cautioned that time is quickly running out to strike a deal in a joint statement. “The negotiation is urgent – and our teams are here to work swiftly and in good faith towards getting a deal,” they said.

The 2015 Iran nuclear agreement under former President Obama lifted sanctions against Tehran in exchange for its agreement to limit its nuclear activities. Former President Trump in 2018 withdrew the U.S. from the agreement, calling it the “worst deal ever negotiated,” and reinstituted sanctions. 

Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett has urged Western powers to take a much stronger position with Iran, though he said Israel would not necessarily oppose a nuclear deal. Israeli leaders maintain that a nuclear-capable Iran poses an existential threat to Israel and have vowed to never allow Iran to obtain nuclear weapons, adding that “all options are on the table.”