Background:
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Multilateral nuclear talks have started once again in Vienna with a new Iranian negotiating team.
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Both US and Iran are completely rigid and want the other party to back down and make concessions before they will move.
Deadlock:
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Iran is rigid on removing all sanctions. It is moving towards leaving the economic sphere of the United States and Europe and joining China and Russia.
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US wants Iran to agree to reversal of its enrichment plan and gradual removal of sanction. US does not have a very clear direction for Iran’s future.
Stand taken by different stakeholders:
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Iran:
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Insists on all sanctions being lifted.
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The newly elected government headed by Ebrahim Raisi is trying to leverage Iran’s expanding nuclear programme to get more concessions from the international community, without paying significant costs.
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USA:
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The USA is asking Iran to return to reduced enrichment of uranium and accept full International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) inspections.
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Europe:
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Not much participation in revived negotiations.
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Wants agreement on nuclear deal as soon as possible as Iran ramps up uranium enrichment.
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China:
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It has made comments regarding “nuclear hypocrisy” of the West, indicating that it is sympathetic to the fundamental arguments of the Iranian negotiators.
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Israel:
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Israeli officials have been pressing European governments and the U.S. on a real Iranian nuclear threat. It continues to see the Islamic Republic of Iran as an existential threat. From the Israeli point of view, this threat can be justified by Iran’s current hegemonic military drive into the Levant region.
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