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In this handout provided by the EU Delegation in Vienna, representatives of the European Union, Iran and others attend the Iran nuclear talks at the Grand Hotel in the Austrian capital, April 15, 2021. (EU Delegation in Vienna via Getty Images, JTA)
WASHINGTON (JTA) Joe Biden’s Iran deal inbox has been quite full lately.
On March 10, 70 Democrats and 70 Republicans in the House sent the president a letter in the hopes that “any agreement or set of agreements with Iran must be comprehensive in nature” meaning any reentry into the 2015 nuclear agreement should also curb Iran’s non-nuclear misbehavior.
Two weeks later, a bipartisan group of 43 senators sent something similar. Two weeks after that, 27 Senate Democrats sent one urging the president to return to the deal right away.
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Apr. 20, 2021 2:51 PM
Two pieces of conventional wisdom seem to underline the attempt to resume the Iranian nuclear deal and Israel’s policy on it.
The conventional wisdom in Vienna, where the United States (indirectly), Germany, France, Britain, China and Russia are negotiating with Iran a framework for a mutual return to the agreement, is that the most likely outcome is an interim accord.
The debate centers around the precise sequencing and phasing of two major elements: Iranian compliance, particularly uranium enrichment that has gone forward alarmingly, and a U.S. lifting of the heavy sanctions imposed by then-President Donald Trump after the United States withdrew from the agreement in May 2018.
Jon Gambrell
In this picture released by an official website of the office of the Iranian supreme leader, Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei wearing a protective face mask, attends a meeting in Tehran, Iran, Wednesday, April 14, 2021. Khamenei said Wednesday that the offers being made at the Vienna talks over his country s tattered nuclear deal are not worth looking at. (Office of the Iranian Supreme Leader via AP) April 14, 2021 - 1:07 PM
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates - Iran s supreme leader on Wednesday dismissed initial offers at talks in Vienna to save Tehran s tattered nuclear deal as ânot worth looking at,â attempting to pressure world powers after an attack on the country s main nuclear enrichment site.
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President Hassan Rouhani, second right, is shown new centrifuges and listens to head of the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran Ali Akbar Salehi, while visiting an exhibition of Iran s new nuclear achievements in Tehran, Iran, April 10, 2021. (Iranian Presidency Office via AP)
The White House said Tuesday it remains committed to nuclear negotiations with Tehran despite the Islamic Republic’s “provocative” statement that it will ramp up uranium enrichment, amid high tensions in the Middle East and alleged tit-for-tat attacks between Israel and Iran.
“We are certainly concerned about these provocative announcements,” US President Joe Biden’s press secretary, Jen Psaki, told reporters.
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Apr. 9, 2021
“It is a great betrayal of the Iranian nation if any faction or person delays the end of the sanctions even for one hour,” Iranian President Hassan Rohani said in a speech on Iranian television on March 17. “The small minority that is obstructing this path needs to stop its destructive act. If it stops … the government can break the sanctions.”
Rohani was speaking about 20 days before the launch of the talks in Vienna this week between Iran and the six entities party to the nuclear agreement. The comments provide evidence of the harsh disagreement in Iran surrounding the negotiations, despite the consent of Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei to Iran’s participation.