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unilaterally rip up the multilateral JCPOA, just as his predecessor Donald Trump did in May 2018 – it wants to see binding pledges that business contracts signed before the next US presidential elections in November 2024 will be honoured by the next US administration, even should it pull out of the deal. Another outstanding issue is Iran’s demand that the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) be removed from the US’s list of foreign terrorist organisations (FTOs), but there are signs Iran may have relented on this point.
A third issue is Iran’s insistence that the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), the UN’s nuclear watchdog,
end an investigation into the origins of nuclear particles found at three Iranian sites. Iran remains deeply opposed to the investigation, saying it is based on intelligence provided by Israel.
“Preventing a nuclear arms race in the Middle East is clearly a priority for Biden”
Apart from Iran, the other remaining signatories to the 2015 nuclear deal are France, Germany, the UK, Russia and China, but all eyes will be on Tehran and Washington, which under Trump four years ago defied international diplomatic convention by walking out of the JCPOA.
An Iranian Foreign Ministry official was quoted by official news agency IRNA as saying that Tehran had given its preliminary response to the EU's text. It was "not at a stage to talk about finalising the deal," he said, as “more comprehensive discussions were needed in Tehran”.
Russian lead negotiator at the talks Mikhail Ulyanov on August 7 said of the latest efforts to bring back the JCPOA that "we stand five minutes or five seconds from the finish line."
Speaking to reporters outside Vienna’s Palais Coburg hotel where the talks were being held, he added: "They are sensitive [issues that are involved], especially for Iranians and Americans. I cannot guarantee, but the impression is that we are moving in the right direction."
Analysts say Kremlin’s launch of Iranian satellite may be leverage move to obtain drones
Will Conroy in Prague
Analysts say the Kremlin is likely providing a launch for an Iranian satellite as part of continuing efforts to leverage its relationship with Tehran in order to receive drones for use in Ukraine.
Russian state-owned space agency Roscosmos announced on August 3 that Russia, using a Soyuz rocket, would launch a remote-sensing satellite, named Khayyam, into orbit on behalf
of Iran on August 9.
In an assessment, the Washington, DC-based non-partisan Institute for the Study of War (ISW) said: “The Kremlin
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may intend this launch to encourage or repay Tehran for the provision of Iranian drones that would be employed in operations in Ukraine, and possibly other military equipment or support.”
It added: “Iran has a huge ballistic missile arsenal and domestic missile manufacturing capabilities that it could provide to Russia in exchange for economic and military cooperation. Iran has prioritized the development of its military space program in recent years and launched one satellite in April 2020 and one in April 2022. US and Middle Eastern officials stated as early as June 2021 that Russian officials
A Russian Soyuz rocket takes off from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan. / Nasa, public domain.
were preparing to send a Russian- made Kanopus-V satellite to Iran, which would expand Tehran’s overall surveillance capabilities in the Middle East and beyond.”
The Pentagon on May 20 issued a rare warning to Tehran against a potential transfer to Russia of hundreds of drones that Moscow could put to use in Ukraine. In relation to the likelihood of Iran shipping drones to Russia, when asked about the prospect by reporters, US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said: “We would advise Iran not to do that. We think it’s a really, really bad idea. And I’ll leave it at that.”