The talks on the Iran nuclear file in Vienna have stopped for a short break. A statement by the European External Action Service on Friday (28 January) said that "the 8th round of negotiations in Vienna in the framework of the JCPOA will take a break. Participants will go back to capitals for consultations with their respective governments. The talks will reconvene next week. Participants will continue the discussions on the prospect of a possible return of the United States to the JCPOA and how to ensure the full and effective implementation of the agreement by all sides", the statement added.
The break comes amid media report of disagreements within the US delegation on the next steps. The United States confirmed that Richard Nephew, the deputy envoy for Iran, along with two other members of the team have left Vienna.
According to the reports, among the issues that divide the US team are how firmly to implement current sanctions and whether or not to withdraw from negotiations given that Iran remains intransigent while continuing its nuclear activities. There are also differences on whether to return to the 2015 deal or pivot towards a new one. Nephew, an architect of earlier financial sanctions on Iran, had called for a tougher stance in negotiations. He played a key role in designing the sanctions imposed on Iran from 2006-13 and was a senior member of the workforce that negotiated the 2015 nuclear deal.
A senior State Department official said that the departure of some of the members of the negotiating team came at their own personal request and that there are no differences between the team in Vienna.
On a brighter note, Iran and US both have now hinted at a chance to talk to each other directly. Iran’s foreign minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian said Tehran would take into account taking directly with the US if talks progress. The chief US negotiator Robert Malley said that US diplomats are willing to meet their Iranian counterparts “at any time and any place”.
The Biden administration’s goal is to restore the nuclear deal. However, local pressure in the US is mounting to call off the negotiations. The National Security Council Middle East coordinator Brett McGurk said at the Carnegie Endowment that he would not put odds on the outcome of the Vienna talks, and the United States was prepared either way.
Source: commonspace.eu with Wall Street Journal (New York), The National (Abu Dhabi) and Al Jazeera (Doha).
Picture: Richard Nephew, former deputy chief negotiator in Vienna.