The talks on reviving the JCPOA, 2015 Iranian
nuclear deal, appear to have run into insurmountable challenges, despite the optimism
that has been growing during the past few weeks.
Anthony Blinken, the Secretary of the State of the
US, poured cold water on the possibility of a breakthrough on Monday: “It’s unclear
whether Iran is willing and prepared to do what it needs to do to come back
into compliance,” said he while speaking to lawmakers on the US foreign policy.
Mr Blinken even implied that possibility of an
agreement being reached with Iran may be months away – at best!
Iran, however, did not agree with the top US
diplomat; Iran says it is complying with the terms of the JCPOA.
The latest US position was made clear after the
IAEA, the International Atomic Energy Agency, vent its frustration at Iran for
not providing it with vital information: “Iran has provided no new information
in relation to one location, has not answered any of the Agency’s questions nor
provided any information in relation to two other locations, and provided a
written statement on a fourth location without any substantiating
documentation,” said Rafael Mariano Grossi, the Director General of the IAEA, on
Monday.
The US has been under pressure not to relax its
position by the key players in the region such as Israel, the UAE and Saudi
Arabia; with the latest assessment by the IAEA, the US got the ultimate impetus
to go public and make its position clear.
The outgoing administration of President Hassan Rouhani
really wanted to strike a deal with the signatories to the JCPOA so that the
team can leave office on a note of high accomplishment; the Iranian foreign
minister even had a discussion with his British counterpart in order to break
the impasses, but to no avail.
Crude oil markets that have been jittery about the
Iran’s entry into markets with a lot of fanfare always reacted negatively at
the prospects, fearing an oil glut; oil price fell yesterday and has since not recovered.
The latest news on the talks that may drag on for
months, according to Anthony Blinken, could be a catalyst for the markets to
turn bullish again.
