Iran’s Currency Falls as US Dismisses Ongoing Nuclear Talks

Iran is offering three-part proposal

Having rebounded in recent weeks on the expectation of the new nuclear talks, Iran’s currency, the rial, dropped over the weekend following US statements panning the first week of indirect talks, and souring the chances of a deal.

The US wasn’t directly involved in the first week of talks, and Iran put in two statements seeking consensus, the first on Iran’s obligations and the second on the sanctions relief expected. Reports are that these were straightforward, and Iran didn’t consider either controversial. They added that once these were accepted, a third statement would be offered on assurances they wanted that the deal would be honored.

Instead, the US State Department says that they prove Iran isn’t open to compromise, and that the talks are non-serious. This led the US to briefly end the talks, though they’re going to start up again this week, meaning really they just took a weekend off.

It reflects a core problem in the talks though, that Iran tried to advance toward the deal by offering a non-controversial joint statement base to build on, while the US was assuming “compromise” would be offered before the US was even involved.

Whether Iran is refusing compromise or the US is being deliberately ornery, the result is the same, and the talks are facing a tough environment.

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.