Indirect talks between the United States and Iran on returning to the 2015 nuclear agreement are entering the "final stretch," with all sides having to make tough political decisions, a senior US State Department official said on Monday.
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The latest talks in Vienna were "among the most intensive that we had to date" on returning to the deal formally known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), which former US President Donald Trump pulled out of in 2018, the official said.
"We made progress narrowing down the list of differences to just the key priorities on all sides. And that's why now is the time for political decisions," said the official.
US President Joe Biden came into office a year ago promising to re-enter the deal, but Iran has continued work on its nuclear program and a deal has remained elusive.
The official said Washington has already laid out what it was prepared to do in terms of lifting sanctions that are inconsistent with the nuclear deal and that the ball was more in Tehran's court.
"Now is the time... for Iran to decide, whether it is prepared to make those decisions necessary for a mutual return to compliance with the JCPOA."
"We are in the final stretch," the official added. "Given the pace of Iran's advances, its nuclear advances, we only have a handful of weeks left to get a deal."
In the event of no deal with Iran, the official said Washington would have to step up pressure – "economic, diplomatic and otherwise" – in the face of Tehran's unconstrained nuclear program.
The official repeated Washington's willingness to engage with Iran through direct talks, saying it would be very much in the interest of the process given the limited time frame but added that there was no sign that they were close to doing that.
"We have not met directly yet. We have no indication that's going to be the case when we reconvene," the official said.
On Tuesday, Qatar's foreign minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al-Thani told al Jazeera TV his country was using its open channels with Washington and Tehran to bring their views closer.
His remarks come after Biden and Qatar's emir met in the Oval Office on Monday to discuss bilateral ties and pressing regional issues.
Al-Thani visited Iran on Thursday, just days before the ruling emir's diplomatic visit to Washington.
Qatar's emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani ended his visit to Washington after sealing a Boeing freighter deal and meeting separately with Homeland Security Alejandro Mayorkas
A senior US State Department official told reporters that there are a "handful of weeks left" to seal a deal with Iran.
"After that, it won't be possible to return to the JCPOA and recapture the benefits of the deal," said the official, claiming that Iran's continued progress towards nuclear breakout will soon make it impossible for a return to the parameters of the 2015 original agreement. Negotiators headed back to the capitals for consultations after another round of European-brokered indirect negotiations between Washington and Tehran in Vienna.
"We are willing to lift sanctions inconsistent with the JCPOA. We have been clear. This is not a difficult call in that respect," said the official, adding that the Biden administration was willing to make the hard choices in order to secure an agreement and that the regime is taking part in a "serious, businesslike negotiation."
Although significant unspecified gaps remain between the US and Iranian positions, the official avenue remains "where we can see a path to a deal if those decisions are made and made quickly." The official said the sequencing – the order by which each side executes their end of the bargain – will not be an obstacle to a deal, as many experts have long claimed.
The last round of discussions was the most intensive to date, according to the official, after negotiations crawled along or completely stopped through much of last year.
After Iranian negotiators recently opened the door to possible direct negotiations, the State Department official said such face-to-face communication would be beneficial if the "goal is to reach an understanding quickly and to avoid miscommunication. The optimal way to do that is to take the parties that have the most at stake and have them meet directly. This is not about asking Iran for a favor to have direct talks. Given how little time is left and how critical the decisions are, it would be deeply unfortunate if the opportunity to have a direct conversation was lost. But it's Iran's decision," the official said.
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The official laid the blame at the feet of the Trump administration for withdrawing from the nuclear accord in 2018, saying Iran's nuclear program has grown largely unchallenged and unwatched since then due to the lack of constraints brought on by a broken deal.
"You can even look to the number of [former] Israeli defense and government officials who have said recently that the withdrawal was a mistake and they regret it. … It was a catastrophic error to withdraw, and the way it was done left us with wholly unsatisfactory tools to deal with it," according to the official, who said the Biden administration was concerned by the loss of visibility over Iran's nuclear activity since the regime largely shut out the monitoring program of the International Atomic Energy Agency.
The official addressed the recent departure of the US negotiating team's deputy, Richard Nephew, who departed the staff, along with two others, amid reported disagreements with lead negotiator Robert Malley over Malley's reluctance to enforce existing sanctions and to walk away from negotiations. Nephew developed the original web of Iran sanctions and helped to formulate the JCPOA under the Obama administration.
"Richard was and is an exceptional colleague and will do extraordinary work in his new position elsewhere in the State Department. … The [negotiating] team presents a wide range of options and arguments, but at the end of the day, the team implements the policies of the president, secretary of state, the National Security Council and other cabinet members. There weren't personal differences here. There were policy differences," said the official.
Issues supplementary to the nuclear deal were also raised. The official said that talks on the release of several American hostages held by Tehran continue on a separate track and that "it's hard to imagine a return to the JCPOA without the release of those hostages."
Part of this article was reprinted with permission from JNS.org.
