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Al-Monitor – Talks over reviving the Iranian nuclear accord resumed in Vienna this week, with Iran demanding the eighth round of negotiations address its sanctions-battered oil industry.
Guarantees and verification: Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian said Monday that verification of sanctions relief remains a top priority for Iran’s negotiating team.
“The most important thing for us is to reach a point where we can verify that Iranian oil will be sold easily and without any limits, that the money for this oil will be transferred in foreign currency to Iranian bank accounts, and that we will be able to benefit from all the revenues,” he said.
To recap: The United States imposed crushing sanctions on Iran’s oil sector after former President Donald Trump abandoned the nuclear deal, known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), in 2018. Iranian crude oil exports sank, and Tehran responded to the economic penalties by steadily breaching the JCPOA.
Prospects for a renewed deal that would bring Iran back into compliance looked bleak when talks paused in mid-December. European diplomats warned that Iran’s nuclear acceleration meant there were “weeks, not months” before the original deal’s benefits are lost. US Special Envoy for Iran Rob Malley told the New Yorker that the Iranians are “miscalculating and playing with fire.”
Iran’s insurance policy: The new hardline government of President Ebrahim Raisi is pressing Washington to lift all sanctions, as well as provide a guarantee that future US administrations won’t renege on the nuclear deal and snap back sanctions that could deter foreign investment. The aim is for Iran “to enjoy full economic concessions” of a revived accord, Amir-Abdollahian said Monday.
Sanam Vakil, an Iran expert at Chatham House, told Al-Monitor that some “creative thinking” is needed to assure Iran that a renegotiated deal will outlast the Biden administration.
“Tehran doesn’t have the confidence to return to the nuclear agreement without some protection, and this I think is the main crux of the issue,” Vakil said. “Everything else can be negotiated and resolved.”
A ‘good’ deal: Iran’s arch-foe Israel is carefully watching the latest round of talks. On Tuesday, Prime Minister Naftali Bennett told Army Radio: “We are not automatic naysayers. We’re taking a practical approach.” Bennett raised the possibility of a “good agreement” emerging from the Austrian capital, but said that outcome was unlikely without a “firmer position” from the West.
As Ben Caspit reports, Bennett kept his criticism to a minimum in recent weeks after the White House ignored an informal request for a phone call with Biden.
