With the latest tensions between the Iranian government and Western countries on the side of the Board of Governors of the International Atomic Energy Agency, it remains to be seen where the Iranian government’s nuclear case will go.
Tensions over Iran’s nuclear program escalated after the release of two classified IAEA reports and after it was announced that the Iranian government had qualitatively restricted IAEA inspectors’ visits to sites.
The French and US Foreign Ministries issued warnings to the Iranian government, and the Iranian government reciprocally called the IAEA’s actions ‘disruptive’ to the negotiations, stating that it was seeking negotiations for a result, not negotiations for negotiations.
The certainty of these words of the Iranian government expresses its inability to withstand the crushing pressure of international sanctions, but what we are witnessing in practice is not a step towards reducing the number of violations of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) agreement by the Iranian government but increasing it.
Nevertheless, as Iran is violating the JCPOA, otherwise known as the 2015 nuclear deal with world powers, and is expanding its nuclear program, member states of the Board of Governors and world powers are expected to issue a resolution against the Iranian government next week’s meeting of the Board of Governors.
This has frightened the Iranian government, prompting Kazem Gharibabadi, the government’s permanent representative to the IAEA, to announce that ‘we hope rationality will prevail at next week’s meeting of the Board of Governors.’
Russia mediates over Iran’s nuclear program
Meanwhile, Russia’s representative to the UN, Mikhail Ulyanov, who is also chairing the Vienna talks, said that it was better for the Iranian government and the IAEA to resolve their differences and that the Board of Governors did not need to take action.
Ulyanov’s remarks come at a time when, despite the IAEA’s insistence, the Iranian government has not only taken any constructive steps to resolve its disputes with the IAEA but has intensified its conflicts with the international body.
US dual policy on Iran’s nuclear program
In addition to Russia’s position, the United States has in recent days adopted a relatively dual policy regarding the Iranian government’s nuclear program.
On the part of the US, Secretary of State Anthony Blinken recently announced that the process of Iran’s nuclear program is approaching a point where a return to the JCPOA will no longer meet the expected benefits, and implicitly threatened the Iranian government.
But on the other hand, US State Department spokesman Ned Price immediately responded that the United States still wants a quick resumption of the Vienna talks and that Washington is not at a stage where it wants to leave the talks.
While adopting these dual policies in complex international cases is not surprising, the performance of the Iranian government, which has repeatedly violated the provisions of the JCPOA since the end of the sixth round of negotiations, has certainly led the United States and its European allies to escalate the conflict. A solution other than the Vienna talks will be to resolve the dispute over Iran’s nuclear program, meaning that the debate is only about time and not its process.
US-Russia consultations on Iran’s nuclear program
At the same time, despite the conflicting positions of the United States and Russia on some aspects of Iran’s nuclear program, consultations continue.
In this regard, Robert Malley, the US Special Representative for Iran, who is chairing the US delegation to the Vienna talks, paid a visit to Moscow on Thursday, September 9, meeting with Sergei Ryabkov, Russia’s Deputy Foreign Minister, to discuss the JCPOA talks, describing them as positive and constructive after the consultations.
Request for a resolution by the Board of Governors against Iran’s nuclear program
Simultaneously with these developments, some politicians in the United States demanded that the Iranian government be reprimanded by a resolution of the IAEA Board of Governors.
Sen. Jim Rish, a member of the US Senate Foreign Relations Committee, called on September 9 that the IAEA Board of Governors should reprimand Iran for what it called ‘non-cooperation’ with the IAEA’s investigation and obstruction of its oversight activities.
Threat to prevent the Iranian government from becoming nuclear
Beyond all the consultations and statements that are being made about the Iranian government’s nuclear program, one issue should not be overlooked, and that is the threat posed by Israel to the Iranian government.
In recent months, there have been deterrent attacks attributed to Israel to the Iranian government’s nuclear facilities. In the latest example, after increasing tensions and the growing development of the Iranian government’s nuclear program, Israel’s foreign minister threatened for the second time that if the world did not prevent Iran from becoming a nuclear power, we would take action ourselves.
This worries the Iranian government because it has so far shown little to say in the face of Israeli threats.
Recent comments on the Iranian government’s nuclear case
However, the latest comment on Iran’s nuclear program concerns the Iranian foreign minister, which was made clear on September 10.
In a conversation with UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Thursday, the Iranian foreign minister called for the negotiating parties to come to Vienna with a ‘realistic understanding.’
Although Amir Abdullahian did not make a direct reference to the Iranian government’s decision to return to the Vienna talks and its possible timing, behind his remarks lies the fact that the Iranian government seeks to lift sanctions at all costs.
But what is on the other side of the table undermines the Iranian foreign minister’s ideas and demands, as the result of six rounds of Vienna talks with explicit statements by US officials against the lifting of all sanctions is that if the Iranian government complies with all the provisions of the JCPOA 2015 and do not return to them, it will not lift any sanctions, and so far this claim has been proven to be true.
This is now becoming a start while the western power seeks to push a new agreement to the regime’s desk including the regime’s missile program, human rights violation, and its regional ambitions, which has become famous as the JCPOA+, a program that the European countries are more serious about in its implementation.
