New York, IRNA – Ahead of initiating the seventh round of talks in Austrian capital, Vienna, to revive the 2015 Iran nuclear deal, the Biden administration’s authorities have changed their tone, while they are expected to make difficult decisions on their country’s return to the agreement.
Antony Blinken, US Secretary of State, has warned about the future of nuclear talks at the time Iran is using advanced centrifuges, adding that the Biden administration may withdraw from the negotiations in Vienna.
Abbas Araghchi, the top Iranian negotiator, said that the signatories to the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) have had enough negotiations in Vienna and now it is the time of decision-making.
Iran’s great decision to maintain the deal helped keep it alive till now, Araghchi noted, saying that it is the other sides’ turn to come to conclusion on reviving the agreement.
Robert Malley, the United States’ Special Envoy for Iran, said in an interview with National Public Radio (NPR) on Friday that Iranians’ demand for lifting all sanctions imposed by the Trump administration since 2018 seems to be difficult, adding that the Americans want to remove sanctions, which are prerequisite for their return to the nuclear agreement, and they will not lift all bans imposed by the previous administration.
Criticizing direct US-Iran talks
Malley also criticized the situation that does not involves Iran and the US in direct talks, saying if both sides met, they could do more jobs in less time and they would be able to avoid misunderstanding, but Tehran insists on refusing any meeting until Washington returns to the JCPOA.
New Israeli government’s green light to the US
Blinken met Israeli Foreign Minister Yair Lapid in Rome on Sunday. Lapid said that the method of negotiations should be professional and direct not in news conferences.
Israel’s new PM Naftali Bennett pronounced support for the Biden administration’s policy toward Iran, noting that the new government in Tel Aviv will distance itself from former premier Benjamin Netanyahu’s reluctance to cooperate with the US on Iran nuclear talks.
US trying to put pressure on Iran
A diplomat told IRNA on condition of anonymity that the US authorities’ change of tone is mostly aimed at putting pressure instead of threatening. They want to persuade Iran to accept their conditions, because they are well aware that threatening Tehran will not bear fruit.
According to the diplomat, it seems that the American officials do not want to increase the level of political tension with Iran. They know that the Iranians will respond to threats.
US on verge of critical decisions
Ali Vaez, Crisis Group’s Iran Project Director, told IRNA that the Vienna talks have entered the phase of critical decision-making; so, the different sides announce their demands clearly.
The analyst went on to say that there is no proper legal mechanism in the United States to assure the Islamic Republic that another president or administration will not repeat the Trump administration’s withdrawal from the JCPOA.
The nuclear deal should turn into a treaty, which gets endorsement from two-third of congressmen, and it is impossible, but if it gets the votes, a US president can discard it by an executive order.
However, let’s wait and see whether President Joe Biden can get rid of the bumps that his predecessor Donald Trump created when it comes to the US’s compliance with its obligations under the JCPOA.
Source: Islamic Republic News Agency – IRNA
