Iran and US seek ‘new chapter’ in Vienna’s key talks

The United States and Iran will resume talks on Friday aimed at bridging confidence and bridging what Washington calls “huge and profound differences” on how to salvage their failed nuclear deal.

Iranian President Hassan Rouhani told a cabinet meeting in Tehran on Wednesday that initial talks with the United States and world powers in Vienna to save the deal were a “success” that opened a “new chapter” on the issue. save agreement, according to a statement via its Official Website.

Both countries described the indirect talks on Tuesday as a “useful step” and “constructive”, although no representative met face-to-face. Officials preferred to use European signatories to the agreement to act as intermediaries.

“We are not optimistic or pessimistic about the outcome of this meeting, but we are confident that we are on the right track,” said Ali Rabiei, an Iranian government spokesman. “The full implementation of this agreement will certainly be completed within the coming weeks,” he added.

Tehran follows an ‘all or nothing’ approach to the talks. It wants Washington to guarantee the full lifting of Trump-era sanctions to reduce its enrichment activity. The Iranian side is also under pressure over time, with presidential elections set to take place in June this year, removing President Rouhani and Foreign Minister Javad Zarif.

However, Washington is seeking a ‘compliance’ approach, with President Joe Biden ruling out a ‘one-sided gesture’, but remains open to exploring how the US can resume its own compliance with the agreement.

It looks like an early economic olive branch has already failed, and Iran describes a US proposal to release $ 1 billion in frozen oil money in exchange for Iran calling its uranium enrichment program ‘ridiculous’.

“The first issue that these talks are going to have to address is the basic breaking of the approach,” Kirsten Fontenrose told CNBC’s Hadley Gamble at the Scowcroft Middle East Security Initiative on Wednesday.

“Until you square that circle, you can get nowhere,” she said.

With the discussion in Vienna set to resume on Friday, two working groups were set up to set the framework for negotiations. The first group focused on the issue of US sanctions, imposed by the Trump administration after the original agreement was abandoned in 2018.

The second group is examining how Iran can once again meet the limits set by the original JCPOA for enrichment and supplies of enriched uranium. Iran has repeatedly violated the terms of the agreement, which has caused concern among European and world signatories and caused tensions among its neighbors in the Middle East.

Friday’s talks could create the scene for more constructive talks, or a full showdown. In the past, Iran used the first week of April to celebrate its ‘Day of Nuclear Technology’, showcasing the country’s nuclear performance. The opportunity was delayed last year due to the outbreak of the coronavirus.

“This day is an opportunity for people to see that, despite the economic pressures, great progress and achievements have been made in the field of the country’s core technologies in these years,” President Rouhani said.

The oil price recovered slightly when the initial talks ended. According to analysts, a breakthrough could be clumsy for crude oil if it raises the prospect that large volumes of oil exports in Iran will return to the market.

“If I were sitting at an oil trading bank, I would probably think I was in a fairly safe space, because it looks like it will continue as it is now,” Fontenrose said.

“We will not have much disruption because we are not close to getting Iranian oil back on the market, and we do not see any major steps by Iran or the Gulf that would destabilize the energy flow,” she added. .