‘On life support’: Fears grow that Iran nuclear deal is on verge of collapse

The deal to scale back and rein in Iran’s nuclear program is in danger of collapse in the face of intransigence by the United States on sanctions relief and ambivalence by a hardline administration in Tehran about the benefits of an agreement may consider more trouble than it’s worth.

For now, the diplomatic envoys of nations party to the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) are scrambling to come up with a formula to resume talks that halted earlier this year. Officials tasked to work on reviving the deal are awaiting any positive signals or moves by Iran, which has been steadily ramping its program well beyond the limits of the nuclear deal and complicating access for inspectors seeking clarity on its program.

“The deal is not totally dead, but it’s on life support,” said an official of a government involved in the talks. They spoke on condition of anonymity.

Experts caution that the status quo is unsustainable and that a collapse of the deal could lead to armed escalation. The United States has accused Iran of dragging its feet, and on Tuesday, State Department spokesman Ned Price told reporters “this is not an exercise that can go on indefinitely.” Israel’s finance minister Avigdor Liberman warned this week that “a confrontation with Iran is only a matter of time and not a lot of time.”

The JCPOA, the result of more than a dozen years of diplomacy, was working largely as intended until former US President Donald Trump unilaterally pulled out of the agreement in 2018, initiating a campaign of draconian sanctions meant to force Iran back to the negotiating table to hammer out a deal more favorable to Washington and its regional partners.

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https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/middle-east/on-life-support-fears-grow-that-iran-nuclear-deal-is-on-verge-of-collapse-b1943512.html