End of blockade – Iran and US resume nuclear talks

After talks had been interrupted for months, Iranian chief negotiator Ali Bagheri Kani, US negotiator Robert Malley and diplomats from Russia, China, France, Britain and Germany are expected in Vienna on Thursday. The aim is to return to the 2015 Vienna Agreement.

No proof of breakthrough
Ali Bagheri Kani and Robert Malley had previously announced on Twitter that it was the other side’s turn to resolve the blockade. There is no indication of an imminent breakthrough. The EU brokered the most recent round in June, but the parties were unable to reach an agreement. Eurasia Group expert Henry Rome estimates the chance of an agreement this year at 35 percent. “Both the US and Iran have a vested interest in keeping the prospect of a deal alive, even though both governments acquiesce in failure,” he wrote in an analysis.

Will the sanctions be lifted?
EU diplomat Enrique Mora, who is coordinating the negotiations, wrote on Twitter that the recently slightly modified draft solution should be discussed. This has been on the table since July 20. A potential new deal will allow the US to lift sanctions against Iran. In return, the Islamic Republic must limit its nuclear program. This is to ensure that Iran does not acquire nuclear weapons.

Only recently has the government declared that it is technically capable of building nuclear weapons. At the beginning of June, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) assumed that Tehran would have sufficient starting material for an atomic bomb within a few weeks. The government in Iran, on the other hand, always emphasizes that nuclear technology should only be used for peaceful purposes.