The US will begin indirect nuclear talks with Iran in Vienna, according to the State Department, with the Biden administration promising to give diplomacy “another chance” despite scant progress last week.
Robert Malley, the Biden administration’s special envoy on Iran, and his delegation “will aim to join the negotiations over the weekend,” according to US State Department spokesperson Ned Price.
After the seventh round of discussions was suspended last Friday, top European diplomat Enrique Mora indicated earlier in the day that the talks will resume on Thursday.
Following last week’s negotiations – the first under conservative Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi – US and European officials questioned Iran’s willingness to revive the pact, formally known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA).
The talks were halted on Friday, less than a week after they began, because it was “obvious” that Iran did not arrive with “seriousness of intent,” according to Price. He did say, though, that reinstating the agreement is still a “viable option.”
“We continue to believe that a mutual return to compliance with the JCPOA is possible,” Price said. “That is why we are returning for the next iteration of talks – the continuation of the seventh round in Vienna.”
Iran claims it offered two suggestions to renew the accord last week “based on the provisions of the 2015 agreement.”
Former President Donald Trump withdrew unilaterally from the JCPOA in 2018, launching a “maximum pressure” campaign of sanctions against Iran’s economy, which his successor Joe Biden has continued to carry out.
Iranian authorities have stated that they want all sanctions withdrawn immediately, while the US administration has called for a mutual return to compliance, which would include the lifting of nuclear-related sanctions and a reduction in Iran’s nuclear programme.
In response to Washington’s exit from the accord, Tehran has begun ramping up its programme.
The Biden administration issued fresh penalties on Tuesday, claiming human rights violations, against two Iranian security institutions and many officials associated to them.
“Washington fails to understand that ‘maximum failure’ & a diplomatic breakthrough are mutually exclusive,” Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Saeed Khatibzadeh wrote on Twitter, criticising the fresh sanctions.
“Doubling down on sanctions won’t create leverage—and is anything but seriousness and goodwill.”
Price said on Wednesday that Washington is willing to negotiate a “good faith” return to the pact and resume talks where they left off after the sixth round in June, before the Raisi administration took office.
“We are giving diplomacy – diplomacy toward a mutual return to compliance – another chance because it is in our interests,” the US official said when asked if the US is giving Iran another chance by returning to the Vienna talks.
