Raisi: Iran ‘never has hope’ in Vienna talks

Al-Monitor – Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi said Friday that Tehran “never has hope” in the ongoing talks seeking to revive the 2015 nuclear accord. 

“We put our hopes in the east, west, north, south of our country and never have hope in Vienna and New York,” Iran’s hard-liner president said during a televised speech marking the anniversary of the 1979 revolution. 

The latest:  Raisi’s comments come as the eighth round of indirect negotiations between the United States and Iran resumed in Vienna this week. Parties to the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action have hinted that negotiations were in their final stretch.  

Russia’s representative in the talks, Mikhail Ulyanov, tweeted Friday that the talks were “definitely moving ahead.”

White House spokesperson Jen Psaki told reporters Wednesday that a deal “is in sight” but that only weeks remain before Iran’s nuclear advancements render the original deal’s parameters meaningless.

What’s next:  US officials are warning of Iran’s shrinking “breakout time,” which is how long it would take the country to amass enough fissile material to build a bomb. US special envoy for Iran Rob Malley and the White House’s Middle East coordinator Brett McGurk told lawmakers in a closed-door briefing that Iran could break out within weeks, Politico reported. 

The original nuclear deal, which restricted the purity and amount of Iran’s enriched uranium stockpile, established a breakout time of one year. But after former President Donald Trump abandoned the deal in 2018 and reimposed economic sanctions, Tehran began violating the accord.

Know more:  Republican lawmakers are demanding a say in any deal reached in Vienna. This week’s Takeaway looks at Congress’ potential oversight role.