Iran has had an opportunity to discuss the future of a nuclear deal with the United States, rejecting it and keeping both countries on a confrontational path instead of a diplomatic one.
On 18 February, Washington accepted an offer to hold informal talks with Tehran mediated by the European Union. The goal was for both parties to negotiate a way forward so that the US could re-enter the multinational agreement limiting Iran’s nuclear program in exchange for sanctions easing left by the Trump administration in 2018. other things, to enrich uranium above the agreed levels.
Now the Trump administration has been replaced by Biden’s, which wants to re-enter the agreement. Attempts to do so have reached a stalemate: Iran wants sanctions lifted before America is welcomed back into the fold, and the US insists Tehran comply with the constraints of the agreement on its core development.
Iran has said it is considering the offer to meet, indicating that EU-mediated negotiations are only days or weeks away. But that ‘maybe’ turned into a ‘no’ on Sunday, a worrying indication that the diplomatic path will not be straight.
The “time is not ripe for the proposed informal meeting,” Saeed Khatibzadeh, the spokesman for Iran’s foreign ministry, tweeted on Sunday.
Given US / E3 positions and actions, the time is not ripe for the proposed informal meeting.
Remember: Trump could not convene because of his insignificant ‘Max Failure’. With sanctions, it still applies. Censorship is NOT diplomacy. It does not work with Iran.#CommitActMeet
– Saeed Khatibzadeh (@SKhatibzadeh) 28 February 2021
The Wall Street Journal, which first reported on Tehran’s ruling, noted that Iran does not want to meet with the US until it is clear that it will ease sanctions from such a meeting. Instead, the Islamic Republic wants the EU to mediate a “step-by-step process” in which Washington and Tehran offer concessions before any talks.
A White House spokesman noted that Biden’s government was “disappointed with Iran’s response”, but added: “We remain ready to work in meaningful diplomacy again to ensure a reciprocal return to nuclear compliance. effected.
However, keeping the chance for diplomacy alive was easier said than done.
Why Iran rejected offer of nuclear talks at least for now
It is always difficult to know why the Iranian government is doing exactly what it is doing. But in his tweet, Khatibzadeh offered two concrete clues.
He said the reason “that the time is not ripe” for US-Iran talks was due to “US / E3 actions”, which means that recent moves by the US and three European signatories to the nuclear deal have been made. : United Kingdom, France Germany.
The American part looks straight. Tehran is upset about the fact that sanctions are still choking its economy, and it is also certainly unhappy with President Joe Biden’s decision to strike Iran – backed proxy in eastern Syria on Thursday. That attack – in retaliation for multiple aggression by militants that have been in Tehran and the United States and related targets over the past few weeks – has hit nine facilities that help the brokers’ weapons smuggling work.
According to experts, it is definitely unworkable to agree to talks shortly after the bombs are dropped.
And the E3 part probably has something to do with a plan to criticize Iran over its nuclear development. Simply put, Tehran has limited the ability of the International Atomic Energy Agency – a UN watchdog – to inspect its nuclear sites as stipulated in the nuclear deal in Iran. To express their displeasure, the US and the three European countries want to formally reprimand the Islamic Republic in the world body.
The motion, presented this week, is intended to “express the council’s deep concern over Iran’s cooperation with the IAEA,” the US wrote in a paper to other member states of the agency. Tehran calls the pending move, not surprisingly, ‘destructive’ and threatens to weaken its ties with the IAEA even further – perhaps cutting it off completely.
At the moment, Biden’s government does not appear to be panicking over Iran’s refusal. “We’re not going to be dogmatic or sticky,” an unnamed senior official told the Wall Street Journal. “We want to make sure that the formal process that is agreed upon is one that is going to be effective.”
The chances of diplomacy are therefore not dead, and some experts believe that Washington and Tehran will eventually reach an agreement. What is dead, however, is a long chance for a smooth and easy way forward.