To reach a nuclear deal, Iran will have to accelerate the pace of progress in negotiations with the superpowers in Vienna or slow down the pace of progress of its nuclear program to buy more time for diplomacy, a senior US government official participating in the nuclear talks in Vienna told Walla!
The purpose of the talks in Vienna is to try and revive the 2015 nuclear deal. Former US President Donald Trump decided in May 2018 to withdraw from the nuclear deal. As a result, Iran began removing restrictions on its nuclear program and made great strides towards nuclear weapons.
The talks in Vienna are between Iranian negotiating teams and diplomats from Russia, China, France, Germany, Britain and the European Union.
The Biden administration has set the end of January or the beginning of February as an unofficial deadline for nuclear talks. The main reason for this is that the Americans believe that within a very few weeks the Iranian nuclear program will cross a technological threshold that will make the 2015 nuclear deal ineffective and irrelevant for good.
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The senior US administration official said there had been some real progress in the nuclear talks with Iran but it was “slow and painless”. He said gaps and disagreements remained on all core issues of negotiations with Iran.
A European diplomat involved in the talks said there were gaps between Iran and the powers regarding the steps Iran must take to curb its nuclear program and about the extent of sanctions Iran wants the US to remove.
Another controversial issue concerns the guarantees that Iran wants to receive to ensure that a future US administration does not withdraw from the nuclear deal once again as Trump did and will re-impose sanctions. The US official noted that the US had sent messages to the Iranians several times during the talks stating that it could not give such guarantees, but at the same time clarified what it could do to allay Iranian concerns.
“We are the closest we have ever been to an agreement but also the closest we have ever been to an explosion of negotiations,” said the senior U.S. official who is participating in the talks. “We are ready and want to reach an agreement soon. But we are also prepared and prepared for the possibility that the talks will run aground – something that if it happens will symbolize the final death of the nuclear agreement. “
Talks in Vienna are expected to continue in the coming weeks but the US official said they would not be able to last much longer. The US and other powers have made it clear to the Iranians that if they need more time for diplomacy they must slow down their nuclear program to add time to the clock.
“Either we reach a breakthrough soon or the nuclear deal will be emptied of content,” the senior US official said. “The Iranians know that if we do not reach a deal and if they do not slow down their nuclear program, we will all go into the wall.”
At this point the efforts of all the countries involved in the talks are focused back on the 2015 nuclear deal and not on one interim agreement or another, the senior US official said. The Iranians are also not interested in an interim agreement at this stage. However, in a scenario where the talks come to a dead end it is quite possible that the possibility of an interim agreement will re-emerge.