Iran Open to ‘Any Initiative’ to Save Nuclear Deal

China confirms powers 'racing against time' to keep deal alive

Another round of talks on the P5+1 nuclear deal in Vienna ended with Iranian negotiator Abbas Araghchi saying Iran is open to “any initiative” that any nation can offer to try to save the deal, and is fully ready to reverse any violations of the deal, so long as the other powers are also willing to get back into compliance on sanctions relief.

Sanctions relief is the big key for Iran, as since the US withdrew from the deal, a lot of that relief just isn’t coming. Iran’s violations have been done deliberately, and in reversible ways, to try to force the other side to the table on relief.

The obvious fix would be for the EU nations to totally circumvent EU sanctions, which was at one point assumed to be in the works. So far, the EU nations seem unwilling or unable to deliver on that.

Chinese Ambassador Wang Qun said the nations, including Iran, are all “racing against time to work out a specific solution.” Russia and China have seemingly worked out that ignoring US threats works quite well, the other nations are still trying to find a way to balance this deal they’ve committed to with keeping Trump placated.

Author: Jason Ditz

Jason Ditz is Senior Editor for Antiwar.com. He has 20 years of experience in foreign policy research and his work has appeared in The American Conservative, Responsible Statecraft, Forbes, Toronto Star, Minneapolis Star-Tribune, Providence Journal, Washington Times, and the Detroit Free Press.