Iran nuclear talks resume in tense atmosphere

The Arak heavy water reactor is one of the Iranian reactors that are actively enriching uranium.

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After five months of suspension, international talks on Iran's nuclear program resumed yesterday, in Vienna, in a tense atmosphere, while analysts see little opportunities to revive the 2015 nuclear agreement. Talks stopped in June amid a positive atmosphere, when diplomats said they were "close." » From reaching an agreement, but the arrival of Governor Ibrahim Raisi to the Iranian presidency changed the data.

Iran has ignored calls by Western countries to resume talks for months, while working to enhance the capabilities of its nuclear program.

If the talks have finally resumed, pessimism will prevail.

Before coming to Vienna, the US special envoy to Iran, Robert Malley, said that Tehran's position "does not bode well for the talks."

"If they continue to accelerate their nuclear program (...) we will not stand idly by," he told National Public Radio earlier this week.

The 2015 nuclear deal, also known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, lifted some economic sanctions against Iran in exchange for strict limits on its nuclear program.

But the agreement began to collapse in 2018, when former US President Donald Trump withdrew from it and began reimposing sanctions on Iran.

The following year, Tehran responded by abandoning some of the restrictions on its nuclear activity enshrined in the deal.

In recent months, it has begun enriching uranium to unprecedented levels and has also restricted the activities of monitors from the International Atomic Energy Agency, the UN body tasked with monitoring Iran's nuclear facilities.

Last week, the Director-General of the International Atomic Energy Agency, Rafael Grossi, visited Tehran, but said on his return that "no progress has been made" on the issues he had raised.

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