Negotiations between Iran and world powers to revive the nuclear deal have turned into a lengthy and fraught process, with no tangible results thus far. Robert Malley, the US envoy for Iran, recently declared that the Biden administration was not going to “waste time” on trying to revive the deal while Tehran was cracking down on protesters at home and supporting Russia’s war in Ukraine.
The record of the JCPOA’s enforcement over the past five years demonstrates that the main threat to any nuclear agreement with Tehran emanates in large part from Washington’s desire to preserve most of its economic leverage over Iran and minimize the actual benefits of sanctions removal for the country. This is basically because the core dispute between the United States and Iran is about the region, not just the nuclear issue. Trump’s withdrawal from the JCPOA in May 2018 and the reimposition of unprecedented U.S. sanctions against Iran clearly bear out this assessment, as they were meant to regain and expand U.S. bargaining power against Iran in the hope of securing a better nuclear deal and addressing the regional issues.
European leaders also may be willing to make some concessions to Iran in the political and security domains to compensate for the loss of the benefits it was due under the accord. While Rouhani has expressed doubts over Europe’s package of economic incentives to preserve the agreement, Iranian Foreign Minister Javad Zarif is continuing to work on securing financial, banking, and energy commitments from his counterparts from China, Russia, Germany, France, and the U.K.
“The DPRK’s core interest in negotiations with the United States and other world powers is to gain recognition of its legitimacy, secure incontrovertible security guarantees, and win the removal of barriers to its integration in regional and global economic structures. Achieving this requires a careful reading of U.S. foreign policy and America’s track record in negotiations with rival powers.”
“Secretary of State Mike Pompeo laid out a list of demands on Iran in a speech threatening to ‘crush’ the country on Monday. His bellicose words come weeks after President Donald Trump pulled the United States out of the Iran nuclear deal and are nothing short of an ultimatum demanding Iran’s total surrender to U.S. wishes … Pompeo’s twelve demands reflect a misunderstanding of Iranian foreign policy, international law, and the realities of the region.”
“How will Tehran react to President Trump’s decision to dump the Iran nuclear deal? Stephen Sackur speaks to Seyed Hossein Mousavian, former spokesman for Iran’s nuclear negotiations team. In the face of intense pressure from the US, Israel and Saudi Arabia, the Iranian government has a choice. Does it make a concerted effort to keep the agreement intact along with the other signatories, or does it ramp up its nuclear programme and hang the consequences?”
