This article was originally published by Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty and is reprinted with permission.
Talks between world powers and Iran regarding Tehran’s controversial nuclear program will resume on December 9 in Vienna, according to the country’s semiofficial Tasnim news agency.
The negotiations aimed at resurrecting the stalled 2015 nuclear deal under which Iran agreed to curbs on its nuclear program in exchange for sanctions relief got off to a rocky start last week.
The United States, which left the agreement in 2018 but is open to rejoining the pact under President Joe Biden, has accused Iran of not being seriously interested in a new deal.
And Germany, a member of the P5+1 group that signed on to the original deal, said on December 6 that it had reviewed Tehran’s proposals for restarting the accord “and concluded that Iran had violated almost all compromises found previously in months of hard negotiation.”
The proposals were “not a basis for a successful end to talks,” a spokeswoman for Germany’s Foreign Ministry said, adding that Berlin expected Iran to return to international negotiations with “realistic” bargaining positions.
Iran, which has refused to participate in direct talks with Washington, has said that there can be no new deal unless all punitive sanctions imposed against Tehran are lifted.
