The talks, which have proceeded haltingly for months, are aimed at bringing the U.S. back into compliance with an accord that Trump violated in 2018.
(State Department, Ron Przysucha)
Biden administration officials have reportedly been attempting to assure their Israeli counterparts that a U.S. return to the Iran nuclear accord is not “imminent,” despite apparent signs of progress toward a final agreement in recent days.
Axios‘ Barak Ravid reported over the weekend the Biden administration has told Israel that it “hasn’t agreed to new concessions with Iran” and that the U.S., European nations and Iran are not on the verge of a deal, even after Tehran engaged with and offered its response to what E.U. leaders characterized as a “final” offer.
The U.S. has yet to formally respond to the E.U. text or Iran’s written reply.
The nuclear talks, which have proceeded haltingly for months, are aimed at bringing the U.S. back into compliance with an accord that former President Donald Trump violated in 2018, escalating tensions with Iran and risking all-out war.
Iran’s President Ebrahim Raisi in 2019. (Khamenei.ir, CC BY 4.0, Wikimedia Commons)
“A deal might be closer than it was two weeks ago but the outcome remains uncertain as some gaps remain. In any case, it doesn’t seem to be imminent,” an unnamed U.S. official told Axios, offering a description of the message that Biden administration officials have conveyed to Israel.
While some Israeli officials have expressed support for a revived deal during internal discussions, the Israeli government has publicly opposed any return to the Iran nuclear accord and threatened to attack Iran in a purported attempt to stop the country from obtaining a nuclear weapon. Iran insists it is not trying to build a nuke.
In the U.S. Congress, Republicans and some war-hawk Democrats have voiced opposition to reviving the nuclear accord, a potentially significant obstacle in the way of cementing any eventual deal.
A final accord would involve the U.S. lifting at least some of the sanctions that have hindered Iran’s coronavirus response and badly damaged its economy. In exchange, major constraints would be placed on Iran’s nuclear activity.
On Monday, Iran accused the U.S. of stalling progress toward an agreement, with a spokesperson for Iran’s Foreign Ministry saying that “the Americans are procrastinating and there is inaction from the European sides.”
#Iran's FM spox: we're witnessing procrastination from the American side as they have yet to officially hand in their response to the EU.. we acted in time and showed we're acting responsibly.. there's been relatively good progress but everything must be agreed. #JCPOA pic.twitter.com/tMjFWc0uil
— Maziar Motamedi (@MotamediMaziar) August 22, 2022
Biden spoke to French President Emmanuel Macron, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz and British Prime Minister Boris Johnson on Sunday, a conversation that touched on “joint efforts to deter and constrain Iran’s destabilizing regional activities,” according to a White House readout of the call.
Middle East analyst Sina Toossi wrote on Twitter Sunday that he hopes the European leaders “pressed Biden to revive the Iran deal.”
“The E3 leaders talking directly to Biden on Iran — which is a rare act — seems to indicate that Washington’s initial response to the Iranian proposal last week is not positive,” Toossi added. “Europe stands to play a decisive role in convincing Biden to not lose this opportunity for a deal.”
Jake Johnson is a staff writer for Common Dreams.
This article is from Common Dreams.
It is not Joe Biden’s character, nor in those he has surrounded himself with at State, to give an inch to those we have cultivated to be our “eternal foes.” It was Biden after all who twisted all the Democrats arms to support the Bush administration’s AUMF which led to the illegal invasion, occupation, and destruction of Iraq. And it isn’t that they do not understand what responses will be forthcoming from their continued intransigence, obfuscation, and mendacity. They truly believe they can alter or manipulate reality, to turn back the tide, and to “Go where no empire has gone before” – eternity.
Fagedaboutit. Not. Aint gonna happen.
But they will drag us all into a nightmare of human conflict the likes of which humanity has never seen.
This is the problem the Americans have around the world today. Nobody can trust them.
Why should Russia or China or Iran or any other nation negotiate with the Americans? You know they won’t keep their agreements. You know the Americans proudly boast that ‘they lie, they cheat, they steal.’ The Americans are agreement-incapable, and even if they do actually agree to something, well then, you can count on that agreement being a lie with the eventual goal to steal something.
Perhaps this worked when America was the world’s bully? But this is going to be a big problem when the Americans are down on the ground and everyone is kicking them and the Americans are pleading for a deal but the rest of the world won’t listen because you know the Americans, they lie, they cheat, they steal, so its not worth listening to them as they plead for mercy. Better just to kick them again before the Americans lie to you again.
Nations used to consider their ‘word’ and their international ‘trust’ to be important assets to be preserved and maintained. The Americans are about to find out the hard way why this was true.
I’m a young pup at only sixty, but I agree.
The USA has hated and attacked Iran ever since the people of Iran had the temerity to throw out the USA designated torturer who was robbing the people blind. That was Iran’s big crime. They threw out our torturer, aka, The Shah. The USA has consistently hated and attacked Iran ever since.
All the rest is BS spread by the aptly named Empire of Lies. The policy is bi-partisan, and from Carter to Biden, no American politician has challenged it from either left or right. The USA declares for itself the right to appoint torturers for any country so they can steal the wealth of the country. If the USA is confronted on this, the Yankees begin bombing.
The Yankees spread lies by the ton to cover this up, but this is the core of the truth. Any country that stands up to the USA and throws out our designated torturer and thief must be bombed and destroyed. Uncle Sam commands it. The power of the Godfather depends on no challenge to its power being permitted, and there must be retribution, even if its on the grandchildren of the challengers some five decades later.
Impeach Biden!
The US Constitution has what is known as a ‘Supremacy Clause’. It says the Constitution is the highest law. But it also says that any treaty, properly signed by the President and ratified by the Senate has similar rank of being the highest law in the land. The UN Charter is such a treaty, duly signed and ratified.
The UN Charter says that all nations that join the UN agree to abide by the decisions of the Security Council. This JCPOA is not only an agreement between Iran and the USA, but it was also ratified by a UNSC resolution. Thus, the JCPOA is a decision of the UNSC, which the USA has signed a treaty pledging to respect, and in the USA, such a treaty is the highest law of the land.
Donald Trump should have been immediately impeached for a violation of the Constitution the second he said he was withdrawing from this treaty as he was defying a UNSC resolution.
Joe Biden should have been immediately impeached for a violation of the Constitution when he did not immediately bring the USA back into compliance with this UNSC resolution as required by the UN Charter and the US Constitution.
Them’s the rules. If you are going to start Global Nuclear War for a Rules Based Order, then you should follow the rules.
Biden and the US Congress will do nothing until their masters in Israel tells them what to do.
When global international outlook appears rather mated if not also gloomy, procrastination IS an advisable albeit not the most attractive foreign policy tool. Given Raisi’s and Biden’s various domestic compulsions particularly political the dragging of feet may pan out advantageously for both in the near future. Israel too may look to milk something out of it, given the uncertainties enGULFing the Middle East region generally.
L.O.L. Sorry Dr, but the idea of anyone, taking seriously anything emanating from the mouths of Americans, means such people need to arrange a mental test, at their nearest medical facility. I’m 72 years of age, and I have read/heard/seen so much crap and garbage, promise after promise, document after document, signed allegedly agreeing to what ever. Yet, here we are, with NONE of those being actually enforced, but all consigned to the toilet as so much toilet paper.
Yet, it appears, there are still people around, who blindly believe in all this crap from the Western World, despite the tonnes of evidence to the contrary. Consider this. Iran could scrap all it’s nuclear work tomorrow, do you seriously believe, such an action would change anything with the Western World relationship with Iran ?????? The nuclear issue with Iran is nothing but an excuse to isolate them. Remove it from the equation, and somnething else will be inserted to replace it. That’s a FOREGONE CONCLUSION.
Sir, you are very sharp and generally quite right, given the not so impressive track record. But I was merely reflecting on procrastination employed as a justifiable foreign policy tool by the US if not also by Iran and its possible benefits, that’s all !
The officials on the American and Israeli sides have no decency, they aim to annihilate Iran. By obfuscating honest negotiation, they pretend to have character and decency where there is none. They have no intention to work for a reasonable agreement.
Bottomline, Americans, and Israelis can’t be trusted. To trust them is to get screwed.
Totally in agreement with your post Renate.
Israël est strictement un État fantoche golem de Washington; c’est un État fasciste.
What I am totally unable to understand- how can there be fascists in Israel after all this tremendous suffering under the German fascist regime?
The abused becomes an abuser