Iran Returns to Vienna Talks, Says Deal a ‘Political Decision’ for US

Officials warn US delay is stalling a good deal from happening

Exactly where everyone stands on the Iran nuclear talks isn’t wholly clear. Earlier this week Europeans indicated the talks were done, and Iran’s negotiator Ali Bagheri Kani had returned to Tehran for consultations on the terms. The negotiator is back, and ready to go.

Yet now it seems that the ball is in America’s court, with Iranian officials saying it’s down to a “political decision” for the US, and that their delay is stalling a perfectly good deal from happening.

All of this supports what the EU parties have said for days, that the deal is pretty much in hand and just waiting for approval. The nations are also warning that the deal should be made soon, before something else happens to muck up the process.

The terms aren’t being made public, but from the start it didn’t appear things would land too far afield from the 2015 deal, just with the US returning and offering a promise of at least some credibility to honor the deal this time.

Over the past couple of weeks the deal has appeared very close, with the most recent stumbling block being concerns by Russia about the US sanctions on them getting in the way. While again, terms aren’t public, it appears everyone has come up with something on this.

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.