(FreedomBeacon.com)- President Joe Biden has repeatedly tried to revive the failed Obama-era Iran nuclear deal, only to be met with roadblocks every step of the way. Iran insists that the United States roll back every single Trump-era sanction before they become compliant with the deal, but Biden knows he can’t do it.
But reports suggest that Biden’s efforts are now finally coming to an end, with Russia’s demand for sanctions protections putting the talks on the edge of collapse. According to a Politico report on Thursday, diplomats now believe that discussions have completely stalled amid the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
International Crisis Group analyst Ali Vaez told the outlet that Russian demands were the “primary” reason that the talks “seem to have stalled.”
Well, that’s certainly part of it. The other part is that Iran wants the United States to back down entirely and accept every single one of their demands, before they promise not to build a nuclear weapon.
Russian negotiators are now reportedly demanding that any return to the 2015 Nuclear Deal include new guarantees that allow future Russian businesses with Iran are exempt from European Union and the United States sanctions. It’s just the latest effort from Russia to bypass sanctions and lessen the damaging impact Western sanctions are already having on the Russian economy.
Diplomats told Politico that negotiators from France, China, Germany, the United States and the United Kingdom have been unable to find a way to accommodate those demands from Russia. It means that the last 11 months of indirect negotiations between the United States and Iran – which have taken place in Vienna – were effectively meaningless.
It happened just as reports suggested that the Biden administration finally may have been close to a deal with Russia.
