Talks on nuclear deals are progressing, Iran and the US say

Talks on the Iranian nuclear deal in Vienna received more positive news on Monday, officials said, as Tehran and Washington continue indirect negotiations in hopes of reactivating the 2015 agreement that lifted economic sanctions on Vienna. Iran in exchange for halting its nuclear program.

“We are on the right track and progress has been made, but that does not mean that the talks in Vienna have reached the final stage,” the Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman said at a press conference in Tehran. Saeed Khatibzadeh.

U.S. officials say there has been no progress, but have described the indirect discussions as “exhaustive” and “reflective.” Reports say diplomats may even draft an interim agreement that would give all parties more time to resolve some of the more complicated technical issues.

Negotiations are starting to accelerate, even as Iran announces new violations of the agreement: most significant is its commitment last week to start enriching uranium to 60% purity, which would bring the fissile material at the levels required for a pump. Uranium enrichment must be 90% to make a pump: the limit of the 2015 agreement was 3.67%.

The measure is “violations that Iran is trying to turn into leverage in the Vienna negotiations,” Behnam Ben Taleblu, a senior member of the Foundation for the Defense of Democracies, told CNBC. While this move aims to strengthen Tehran’s hand, it could also counteract it, analysts warn.

On April 10, Iran launched advanced centrifuges to enrich uranium on the occasion of its national “Nuclear Day,” while its president Hassan Rouhani reiterated the country’s commitment to nuclear non-proliferation. Conflicting state television messages were followed by an explosion at Iran’s Natanz enrichment facility just a day later, which Tehran called an “act of nuclear terrorism” and blamed Israel. Israel has publicly refused to confirm or deny any responsibility.

“I think this will definitely get longer, you’re likely to see the cyber war heat up between these two countries in the coming months and we’re likely to talk more about it in the coming months,” Ben Taleblu said. .

“And in the meantime, while there are more cyberattacks and more conversations, you can almost guarantee that places like Natanz will do their best to continue producing.”

Still, all parties continue to seek the return of the United States to the agreement the former Trump administration abandoned in 2018, after which it imposed crippling sanctions on the Iranian economy. The U.S. also wants Iran to fully comply again before it lifts sanctions, which becomes more complicated with each new impetus for Tehran’s enrichment.

Throughout the talks, Iranian officials have basically taken a tough approach: they want Washington to lift all sanctions before it is re-enforced. The Biden team has expressed its willingness to remove all sanctions that are inconsistent with the agreement, but has not yet explained exactly what that means.

Officials from all parties have described the mutual desire to move towards simultaneous and sequential steps to reach this agreement. But at this point, there is still much more work to be done.

At the same time, the International Atomic Energy Agency has begun separate talks with Iran over the uranium traces the agency found in undeclared places in the country. The agency wants to understand where the traces came from and make sure Iran does not divert material to make a nuclear weapon, which would be a major blow to the apparent progress of talks so far. Iran insists this is not the case.

EU top diplomat Josep Borrell said on Monday: “I think the two sides are really interested in reaching an agreement and have gone from general issues to more focused issues, which are clearly, on the one hand, the lifting sanctions and on the other hand, nuclear implementation problems “.

“U.S. reinstatement in the JCPOA and a return to full implementation of the agreement would make the world much safer,” Borrell said.