Roundup: Rising Iran-IAEA tensions cast shadow on resuming Vienna nuke talks: experts

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TEHRAN, June 14 (Xinhua) -- The mounting tensions between Iran and the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) have reduced the chances of resuming the Vienna talks on restoring the Iranian nuclear pact soon, experts said.

Iran recently removed a number of the monitoring cameras installed by the IAEA at its nuclear facilities under the 2015 nuclear deal, formally known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), which the former U.S. administration under Donald Trump quitted in 2018.

Tehran's measure was in response to the IAEA passing of a resolution drafted by the U.S. and the European troika of France, Britain and Germany, which criticized Iran for what they called its "failure" to respond to the IAEA questions concerning the "undeclared" nuclear sites.

"I think this would be a fatal blow" to the Vienna talks between Iran and the powers on restoring the 2015 nuclear deal, Rafael Grossi, director general of the IAEA, told the IAEA Board of Governors' meeting last week.

Reza Nasri, an Iranian expert on international relations, told Iran's Ebtekar daily on Sunday that the IAEA resolution was "a negative development in the diplomatic process."

What will happen to the Iranian nuclear issue from now on depends, in part, on Iran's reaction to the resolution and the other side's reaction to Iran's steps, Nasri said.

In other words, "if this causes Iran and the other side to enter a dynamic of stubbornness and an increasing cycle of tension, naturally the revival of the JCPOA will face more and more complicated problems," Nasri added.

On Saturday, Amir Ali Abolfath, an Iranian expert on American affairs, told the official news agency IRNA that the IAEA's resolution as well as the U.S. indecision in Vienna talks "do not indicate a promising atmosphere" for the revival of the nuclear deal.

While some experts are less hopeful about the resumption of the Vienna talks, others do not consider the IAEA resolution a hindrance to the continuation of the negotiations. They believe that the resolution is not a punitive note.

Hadi Khosroshahin, an Iranian experts on international affairs, wrote in the Melli daily on Sunday that "to date, neither the United States nor Iran want to announce the death of the JCPOA. This means that the two sides are still willing to make an agreement, even if the chances of reviving the deal have greatly been reduced."

Mikhail Ulyanov, Russia's permanent representative to international organizations in Vienna, on Saturday wrote on Twitter that "it would be definitely premature to say that the deal is dead."

"It is in the state of stalemate which most likely will continue for a certain period of time after the adoption of the not well thought out and counterproductive resolution on Iran by the IAEA," he said.

On Monday, Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Saeed Khatibzadeh slammed the IAEA resolution as "political and untechnical," while saying the interaction between Iran and the international nuclear agency will continue within the technical framework.

Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian said on Tuesday that Iran will not distance itself from the "logic of diplomacy and negotiation" to reach a "good, strong and lasting agreement" in the Vienna talks.

Since April 2021, eight rounds of talks have been held in the Austrian capital of Vienna between Iran and the remaining JCPOA parties, including China, Britain, France, Russia and Germany, to revive the pact.

However, the Vienna talks have stalled since March this year due to reported major differences between Iran and the United States. Enditem

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