Israel cautioned world powers on Monday to beware of what it described as Iranian "nuclear blackmail" as diplomats convened in Vienna to discuss resurrecting a 2015 nuclear deal with Tehran.
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"Today, Iran will be arriving at negotiations in Vienna with a clear goal: to end sanctions in exchange for almost nothing," Prime Minister Naftali Bennett said in a video address delivered to nations negotiating in Vienna.
Citing Iran's hostility to Israel and internal crackdowns, Bennett said: "Iran doesn't hide its intentions ... Such a murderous regime should not be rewarded."
"Iran deserves no rewards, no bargain deals and no sanctions relief in return for their brutality," Bennett said in the video that he later posted to Twitter. "I call upon our allies around the world: Do not give in to Iran's nuclear blackmail."
Don't give in to nuclear blackmail. pic.twitter.com/Pr0BO6dGDM
— Naftali Bennett בנט (@naftalibennett) November 29, 2021
British Prime Minister Boris Johnson on Monday showed his support for Israel's right to defend itself "with no equivocation" from hostile states such as Iran in a speech at a meeting of Conservative Friends of Israel in London.
He added that Iran's overall behavior has to change, "the attacks at sea, the support for terrorism, the destabilization of the region all form part of the same pattern," he said.
Johnson made the comments as Foreign Minister Yair Lapid visited London for talks with his British counterpart Liz Truss.
Speaking alongside Liz Truss, Lapid said Iran was only attending the talks because they wanted access to money.
"This is what they have done in the past. And this is what they will do this time as well. The intelligence is clear, it leaves no doubt," he told reporters after signing a Memorandum of Understanding on trade, technology and defense with Britain.
"A nuclear Iran will thrust the entire Middle East into a nuclear arms race; we will find ourselves in a new Cold War. But this time the bomb will be in the hands of religious fanatics who are engaged in terrorism as a way of life," Lapid said.
Truss said Britain was "absolutely determined" to prevent Iran from securing a nuclear weapon.
"As far as I am concerned, these talks are the last opportunity for the Iranians to come to the table and agree the JCPOA...," she said, referring to the 2015 deal. "We will look at all options if that doesn't happen."
The remaining signatories to the nuclear deal – Iran, Russia, China, France, Germany and Britain – convened at the Palais Coburg, a luxury hotel where the agreement was signed six years ago.
A US delegation headed by the Biden administration's special envoy for Iran, Robert Malley, stayed at a nearby hotel where it was being briefed on the talks by diplomats from the other countries.
US President Joe Biden has signaled he wants to rejoin the talks. The last round, aimed at bringing Iran back into compliance with the agreement and paving the way for the US to rejoin, was held in June.
"There is a sense of urgency in putting an end to the suffering of the Iranian people," said EU diplomat Enrique Mora, who is chairing the talks, referring to the crippling sanctions the US re-imposed on Iran when it quit the accord.
"And there is a sense of urgency in putting the Iranian nuclear program under the transparent monitoring of the international community," he said.
"What has been the norm over the first six rounds will be again the practice in this seventh round," Mora added. "Nothing new on working methods."
By the end of the over three-hour meeting, it appeared that no significant progress had been made and that the sides could be headed toward another stalemate.
Trying to strike an upbeat tone, Mora said, "I feel positive that we can be doing important things for the next weeks."
Mora told reporters the new Iranian delegation had stuck to its demand that all sanctions be lifted. But he also suggested Tehran had not rejected outright the results of the previous six rounds of talks held between April and June.
"They have accepted that the work done over the first six rounds is a good basis to build our work ahead," he said. "We will be of course incorporating the new political sensibilities of the new Iranian administration."
All participants showed a willingness to listen to the positions and "sensibilities" of the new Iranian delegation, he added. At the same time, Tehran's team made clear it wanted to engage in "serious work" to bring the accord back to life, he said.
One European diplomat struck a pessimistic note, saying the Iranians stuck to their positions and at times toughened them, which was hardly encouraging.
The diplomat said matters would become clearer during detailed talks on the issue of sanctions on Tuesday and on Iran's nuclear commitments Wednesday.
The nuclear deal saw Iran limit its enrichment of uranium in exchange for the lifting of economic sanctions. Since the deal's collapse, Iran now enriches small amounts of uranium up to 60% purity – a short step from weapons-grade levels of 90%. Iran also spins advanced centrifuges barred by the accord, and its uranium stockpile now far exceeds the accord's limits.
Iran incredulously still maintains its atomic program is peaceful. However, US intelligence agencies and international inspectors say Iran had an organized nuclear weapons program up until 2003. Nonproliferation experts fear the brinkmanship could push Tehran toward even more extreme measures to try to force the West to lift sanctions.
Making matters more difficult, United Nations nuclear inspectors remain unable to fully monitor Iran's program after Tehran limited their access. A trip to Iran last week by the head of the International Atomic Energy Agency, Rafael Grossi, failed to make any progress on that issue.
Russia's top representative, Mikhail Ulyanov, said he held "useful" informal consultations with officials from Iran and China on Sunday. That meeting, he said, was aimed at "better understanding ... the updated negotiating position of Tehran." He tweeted a picture of a meeting Monday he described as a preparatory session with members before Iran joined the discussions.
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A delegation appointed by hard-line Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi, comprising dozens of officials, joined the negotiations for the first time. Iran has made maximalist demands, including calls for the US to unfreeze $10 billion in assets as an initial goodwill gesture, a tough line that might be an opening gambit.
Ali Bagheri Kani, Iran's deputy foreign minister and chief nuclear negotiator, told Iranian state television late Sunday that the Islamic republic "has entered the talks with serious willpower and strong preparation." However, he cautioned that "we cannot anticipate a timeframe on the length of these talks now."
Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Saeed Khatibzadeh, meanwhile, suggested Monday that the US could "receive a ticket for returning to the room" of the nuclear talks if it agrees to "the real lifting of sanctions." He also criticized a recent opinion piece written by the foreign ministers of Britain and Israel, who pledged to "work night and day to prevent the Iranian regime from ever becoming a nuclear power."
