Under the title "Washington: We Will Not Allow Iran to Exploit Talks to Accelerate Its Nuclear Program," the Arabic website reported that two days before the resumption of the Vienna talks on the nuclear file between Iran and the major powers, U.S. Special Envoy for Iran Robert Malley said in an interview aired on Saturday that the United States and its partners are likely to exert pressure on Iran if it uses the resumed talks in Vienna as a pretext to accelerate its nuclear program. Malley told BBC Sounds in an interview, "If Iran believes it can exploit this time to enhance its power and then come back and say it wants something better, that will not work... We, alongside our partners, will do everything we can to prevent that."
The anticipated Vienna negotiations come after several Iranian officials, the latest being Foreign Minister Hossein Amir Abdollahian and head of the Iranian Atomic Energy Organization Mohammad Eslami, confirmed that the upcoming round of nuclear talks aims to bring the U.S. back into the agreement and lift sanctions entirely. Meanwhile, Josep Borrell, the EU's High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, emphasized that reviving the nuclear deal, which has deteriorated since the U.S. withdrawal in 2018, and returning to commitments is more urgent and necessary than ever. He also hinted at the "real possibility" of returning to the right path regarding the agreement made between Tehran and the global powers.
It is noted that Iran insists on the necessity of providing "serious and sufficient" guarantees against a future U.S. withdrawal from the agreement, which the U.S. has so far rejected. It also demands the lifting of all sanctions imposed by the previous U.S. administration under Donald Trump, which number in the hundreds since 2018 and before. Abdollahian reiterated this yesterday, stating, "If the opposing parties are willing to return to all their commitments and lift the sanctions, a good and even immediate agreement can be reached."
