Iran Nuclear Deal: Negotiations with the West

Senior Western diplomats said on Friday that negotiations to revive the 2015 Iran nuclear pact will take place in Vienna next week, marking the first substantive attempt to save the arrangement since President Biden took office in January.

Senior officials from all parties to the deal, including Iran, France, Germany, the United Kingdom, Russia, China, and the European Union, as well as top US officials, will convene in Vienna on Tuesday (7th April 2021). According to the diplomats, there will be no immediate talks between US and Iranian officials for the time being. Iran will oppose indirect negotiations with the US and the gradual easing of sanctions, according to the Iranian State Media.

In May 2018, the United States pulled out of the 2015 nuclear settlement. President Biden has indicated that the US should return to the nuclear agreement, which imposed stringent but temporary limitations on Iran’s nuclear activity in exchange for the lifting of international sanctions.

The aim of the Vienna meeting would be to draft two separate documents, one with the US and one with Iran, about how they will return to conformity with the agreement. Once senior officials kick off the negotiations, they’ll leave it up to nuclear and sanctions experts to hash out the specifics.

The talks in Vienna come after two months of quiet diplomacy failed to yield an agreement that would allow the two sides to map out a path back to the settlement.