Iran to Resume Nuclear Talks in ‘Near Future’

The Raisi government in Iran intends to resume nuclear talks with the international community soon, while warning that any US attempts to condemn them publicly could derail that.

That warning is not out of nowhere, as the US has been talking up condemning Iran at the next International Atomic Energy Agency meeting with a special resolution. That might ultimately not happen, with Iran and the IAEA making deals on the IAEA having access to equipment for maintenance.

The plan is for the IAEA staff to come to Iran this weekend to swap out some memory cards and reset equipment. The State Department says if that goes well, the US will probably drop the condemnation move.

Western diplomats said the talks could resume later this month, and the State Department suggested the IAEA visit would be a good chance to engage on the matter.

Iran had been giving the IAEA special monitoring access, but that deal expired in recent months. Iran has wanted to hold off on more monitoring deals pending a deal on the JCPOA’s restoration.

Iran’s parliament has wanted to limit optional access since Israel’s most recent sabotage attacks. One of those sabotage attacks included serious damage to the IAEA equipment.