Washington

- After a year and a half of indirect negotiations in the Austrian capital Vienna between Iran and the United States on reviving the nuclear agreement, the two sides failed to reach an agreement after many European mediators were optimistic that a deal would be reached that satisfies all parties.

At the same time, with the American and European interest in the Iranian issue shifting to the consequences of the angry popular demonstrations that erupted since the killing of the girl Mahsa Amini at the hands of the Iranian police, an opinion poll conducted by the independent Eurasia Group Foundation showed that more than 3 quarters of Americans believe that the administration should President Joe Biden to continue negotiations seeking to prevent Iran from acquiring or developing a nuclear weapon.

The poll was conducted in the first half of last month on more than two thousand American voters, representing the main American political trends, including Republicans, Democrats and independents.

In an interview with US public radio, the head of the US delegation to the nuclear negotiations, Robert Malley, blamed Tehran for not reaching an agreement so far.

"There was an agreement on the table... All the other participants were fine with the agreement last March. Then again during the spring, then again in August. And every time Iran comes up with some new requests," Mali said. And some of the new demands in most cases are either unrealistic or strange demands that have nothing to do with the nuclear talks."


The majority supports negotiations with Iran

The poll showed the support of 88% of Democrats for these negotiations, compared to 76.9% of independents and 71.8% of Republicans, which indicates a gap with the political elite of both parties that reject or be tough in negotiating to revive the nuclear agreement.

In an interview with Al Jazeera Net, Ambassador David Mack, former Assistant Secretary of State for Middle Eastern Affairs, indicated that "many critics of the return to the JCPOA, whether Israelis or right-wing Americans, say that we must maintain full sanctions and prepare for war with Iran." ".

He added that "some Americans may support continued sanctions, but not if there is a possibility of using military means to prevent Iran from obtaining nuclear weapons."

Ambassador Mac stressed that "President Biden's position is that diplomacy remains the best option for war-weary Americans."

For her part, Barbara Sliven, director of the "Future of Iran" initiative at the Atlantic Council, said that Americans "who follow the issue know that Iran is much closer to being able to make nuclear weapons now than it was when the United States was still committed to the nuclear agreement. 4 years to see the results of former President Donald Trump's reckless withdrawal, and it's not good."


Agreement is not soon

Ambassador Mac considered that there are some unrealistic Iranian demands, and stated that "Iranian hardliners can continue to demand impossible conditions, such as ensuring that the United States does not withdraw if there is a Republican president after 2024."

This is consistent with what Robert Mack confirmed to National Radio, saying, "We've told them since we started talking indirectly in March 2021... We can't control what the next president does, so if this is something Iran insists on, there is no point in negotiation".

Said Golkar, an expert on Iran at Tennessee State University and a researcher at the Chicago Council on International Relations, said that if Americans were to choose between a deal versus war, of course, most of them would support an agreement, not war. Americans don't have a good memory of war, especially in 2001. The interventions in Iraq and Afghanistan ended poorly, wasting billions of dollars and several thousand dead and wounded, so there is no appetite for war at all.

In an interview with Al Jazeera Net, Golkar indicated that "we are not close to reaching a new agreement, and to get a deal or an agreement, you need two sides to be able to make concessions. Even if the Americans are willing to do so, the Iranians do not seem very enthusiastic. What the Islamic Republic wants is more than just a win-win situation. So we shouldn't blame the Americans alone for the predicament."

Golkar also pointed to the reluctance of the Democrats to "accept what Iran offers them at the negotiating table because of the upcoming November congressional elections, and they know that any deal with Iran can be interpreted as a bad deal by the Republicans, and they may lose the elections because of it." .

For her part, Slavin sees that "the problem, as it has been for months, is not in Washington, but in Tehran. There has been a draft agreement on the table since last March, and it was revised a little in August, but it seems that the Iranians cannot accept that." .

Slavin noted, "The Iranian side continues to raise its demands that either go beyond the limits of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, such as insisting that the International Atomic Energy Agency first close an investigation into the unexplained effects of uranium, or search for guarantees about future US administrations that the Biden administration simply cannot provide." If Iran has given up these demands, an agreement will be ready."


The poll results are shocking to opponents of the agreement

For his part, Ambassador Mac was surprised by the thinking of the hard-right camp, which rejects any future agreement with Iran, and said, "I do not understand the thinking of those who oppose returning to the agreement. It seems more emotional than it is based on any logic, so they will reject the results of these polls and consider them fake news."

Speaking to Al Jazeera Net, Barbara Slavin confirmed that "there are those who hate the idea of ​​any deal with Iran, and others believe that this is not the time to lift and ease sanctions due to the killing of Mahsa Amini, and the brutal suppression of protests. But US sanctions punish the entire Iranian people and deprive the world of the oil that It is much needed.”