Iran Nuclear Talks Likely to Resume After Biden’s Gulf Trip
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Iran Nuclear Talks Likely to Resume After Biden’s Gulf Trip
BLOOMBERG- July 1st 2022
European-brokered efforts to revive the Iran nuclear deal are likely to resume following US President Joe Biden’s visit to the region this month, after an intense round of talks in Doha failed to overcome differences.
Two European diplomats with direct knowledge of this week’s negotiations said that, while talks didn’t progress, efforts to resurrect the accord were expected to continue beyond the July deadline suggested by the UN nuclear watchdog.
A third person familiar with the talks said efforts could resume in the Qatari capital following Biden’s trip.
One source briefed on the negotiations said the Doha talks had focused on oil sanctions, adding that other areas actively under discussion are Iran’s access to funds blocked in South Korea, sanctions on airlines and the removal of penalties on the business operations of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps
The latter is very unlikely to be agreed but the others were achievable, the source said, speaking on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the matter.
Narrow Window
The 2015 agreement offered Iran sanctions relief, including on oil exports, in return for curbs to its enrichment activities and intrusive International Atomic Energy Agency inspections.
Donald Trump pulled out of the deal in 2018 and reimposed sanctions. President Joe Biden has sought for more than a year to revive the deal but Iran has rapidly expanded its nuclear work while steadily dialing down international oversight during the course of negotiations.
The IAEA said at its last meeting on June 9 that its inspectors would no longer be able to verify Iranian nuclear activities permitted under the accord if a diplomatic compromise wasn’t reached within a month, setting the clock ticking on talks.
US officials have repeatedly said that the window for a deal is narrow as the accelerated pace of Iran’s nuclear work threatens to make the terms of the original deal obsolete.
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