US resumes indirect talks with Iran to curb Tehran’s nuclear program

The United States has quietly resumed indirect talks with Iran in an effort to curb Tehran’s nuclear program, multiple sources told the news agency. CNN .

Talks resumed late last year, months after an attempt to revive the Iran nuclear deal failed.

The Trump administration withdrew from the landmark deal in 2018, and Iran has steadily ramped up its nuclear program in violation of the deal, formally known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA).

While sources say there have been some indications of progress, one source said “we’re not there yet” on a deal, and both the US and Iran have denied that an interim deal has been reached.

The stakes are high for the renewed efforts, which come ahead of the 2024 US presidential election and will face scrutiny from lawmakers and a key US ally in the Middle East: Israel.

The US is also committed to securing the release of several Americans detained in Iran – something the administration has called a top priority.

There are three Americans designated as wrongfully detained and imprisoned in Iran: Siamak Namazi, Emad Sharghi and Morad Tahbaz. An American resident, Shahab Dalili, is also being held.

Biden administration officials had said for months that Iran’s break-through time – how long it would take to produce enough materials for a nuclear bomb – had shrunk to a matter of weeks, with a Defense Department official saying in February it could be as short as 12 days.

The breakup time does not mean that Iran could produce a real bomb in that period.

For months after the failure of the JCPOA reactivation attempt and amid national protests in Iran, the Biden administration publicly said that the nuclear deal was “not on the agenda” but stated that it was committed to using diplomacy to prevent Iran from acquire power to obtain a nuclear weapon.

However, talks quietly resumed late last year, with countries such as Oman serving as intermediaries. A senior government official, Brett McGurk, has traveled to the Gulf nation several times for indirect discussions with Iranian government representatives.

US approves $2.7 billion bank

And in what could be seen as a confidence-building measure, the US approved a waiver allowing the transfer of US$ 2.7 billion (about R$ 13 billion) from Iraq to Iranian banks, in a move that the bearer State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller called it “consistent with transactions that have occurred over the course of — going back a few years.”

“Number one, Iran can only access its funds held in accounts for Iraq for humanitarian and other unsanctionable transactions,” he said on Tuesday.

“Number two, that these are actions that have been going on for several years, going back to the previous administration where the United States has approved similar transactions on an ongoing basis, in accordance with US law and in full coordination with the government of Iraq.”

Iran’s Foreign Ministry spokesman said on Monday that Tehran exchanged messages with the United States through Oman “a few weeks ago”.

“The basis of negotiations to lift sanctions is the JCPOA. We don’t have a new structure. We do not endorse any negotiations for an interim agreement or new agreements to replace the JCPOA,” said Nasser Kanaani.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu hinted this week that his government would remain opposed to a deal with Tehran, saying: “Our position is clear: Israel will not be bound by any deal with Iran and will continue to defend itself.”

On Thursday (15), US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin met with his Israeli counterpart in Brussels, where “both leaders agreed to continue working together to address the full range of threats posed by Iran, including its nuclear program, destabilizing regional activities, and proliferation of unmanned weapons, proliferation of airborne systems, and other lethal assistance throughout the Middle East and Russia,” according to a Pentagon reading.

Earlier this week, Iranian negotiator Ali Bagheri Kani met officials from the so-called E-3 countries – France, Germany and the United Kingdom – in Abu Dhabi, UK Foreign Office political director Christian Turner said. , on twitter.

Plan C

If an agreement on the nuclear issues is reached, it is unlikely to restore the JCPOA’s boundaries, but rather an effort to put a box around Iran’s growing nuclear program.

“They’ve moved on to what you would call Plan C, which is trying to constrain Iran and trying to limit the worst-case outcomes, but not trying to get a real deal for next year, given the political constraints that the government faces and not wanting to divert attention or resources away from China and Russia,” said Henry Rome, a senior fellow at the Washington Institute.

A US official told CNN that the administration’s diplomatic engagements were focused on “restraining his destabilizing behavior and ensuring that he does not acquire a nuclear weapon.”

They also said they wanted to see Tehran curb its nuclear program, stop supporting proxy groups carrying out attacks in the region and stop supporting Russia in its war in Ukraine.

“We continue to use our diplomatic engagements to pursue all of these objectives, in full coordination with our partners and allies,” the official said.

“We believe that diplomacy is the best way forward, as we have been saying since the beginning of this government. But, as always, we have other options available if Iran decides not to act,” they said, adding that their “diplomacy is accompanied and supported by deterrence.”

“Our actions earlier this year, for example, sent a clear message to Iran that resulted in a significant reduction in attacks against US personnel,” the official said.

On the issue of detainees, Oman’s foreign minister told al-Monitor that the two sides are “close”.

“This is probably a technicality issue,” he told the publication.

In the past, one aspect of a possible deal for the detainees involved unfreezing billions of dollars of frozen Iranian assets from South Korea.