After a brief hiatus, talks continue between the West and Iran over the Islamic Republic’s return to the nuclear deal. Western countries have in recent days expressed great pessimism and skepticism about Iran’s genuine willingness to return to the nuclear deal that was dismantled after the US withdrew from the agreement about six years ago, in 2015.
Despite the pessimism, Enrique Morca, a member of the EU delegation, claimed that he saw some progress in the talks today (Thursday) but made it clear that “we do not have all the time in the world”.
Senior Iranian officials have responded anonymously to what the British Foreign Secretary said was “a message of unacceptable threat”.
Elizabeth Tars, Britain’s foreign secretary, said yesterday that “this is really the last chance for Iran to sign, and I urge them to do so because we are determined to work with our partners to ensure that Iran does not acquire nuclear weapons”.
French Foreign Minister Yves de Darien also did not express much optimism, saying that “things do not look really encouraging at the moment. Our impression at the moment is that the Iranians want to make the talks drag on.”
Alongside them, the Americans are also impatient, and are considering adding and returning many sanctions on Iran, as senior government officials call ‘dragging their feet’.
U.S. Secretary of State Anthony Blinken said “we continue to believe that returning to fulfillment of the obligations in the agreement is the best way forward, but it is not an eternal horizon.” He added that this was “because we would not allow Iran to grind water in talks and not move forward with serious or meaningful proposals to solve the difficult problems – and at the same time move forward with the nuclear program.”
Tonight, Defense Minister Benny Gantz is expected to meet with his American counterpart Lloyd Austin, and according to Gantz’s spokesmen, the two will also discuss “exercises in preparation for an attack on Iran.”