Al Mayadeen English

  • Ar
  • Es
  • x
Al Mayadeen English

Slogan

  • News
    • Politics
    • Economy
    • Sports
    • Arts&Culture
    • Health
    • Miscellaneous
    • Technology
    • Environment
  • Articles
    • Opinion
    • Analysis
    • Blog
    • Features
  • Videos
    • NewsFeed
    • Video Features
    • Explainers
    • TV
    • Digital Series
  • Infographs
  • In Pictures
  • • LIVE
News
  • Politics
  • Economy
  • Sports
  • Arts&Culture
  • Health
  • Miscellaneous
  • Technology
  • Environment
Articles
  • Opinion
  • Analysis
  • Blog
  • Features
Videos
  • NewsFeed
  • Video Features
  • Explainers
  • TV
  • Digital Series
Infographs
In Pictures
  • Africa
  • Asia
  • Asia-Pacific
  • Europe
  • Latin America
  • MENA
  • Palestine
  • US & Canada
BREAKING
Tebboune: Achieving economic integration must not remain a dream.
Algerian Foreign Minister Ahmed Attaf delivers a speech on behalf of Algerian President Abdelmadjid Tebboune at the Fifth Arab Development, Economic, and Social Summit in Baghdad.
Mustafa: We reaffirm our commitment to work with our brothers and friends around the world for stability and an end to wars.
Palestinian Prime Minister Mohammad Mustafa: We stress the importance of reaching an agreement to implement the initiatives of the Development, Economic, and Social Summit.
Aboul Gheit: The global economy is going through a period of turbulence.
Aboul Gheit: Concrete solutions must be found for the issue of Arab food security in line with the strategy proposed at the Arab Summit in Baghdad.
Aboul Gheit: Arab national security is an integrated whole that cannot be achieved without food, social, cyber, and other forms of security.
Arab League Secretary-General Ahmed Aboul Gheit: We present a comprehensive Arab strategy for food security at the Arab Development Summit.
The closing statement of the Arab Summit: We reaffirm our absolute rejection of the displacement of the Palestinian people and call for the delivery of aid to the Gaza Strip.
The closing statement of the Arab Summit: The goal of the Arab Summit is to unify our efforts and achieve the interests of the peoples of our region.

Vienna talks could collapse soon: senior US diplomat

  • By Al Mayadeen Net
  • Source: Agencies
  • 27 Jan 2022 20:49
5 Min Read

The United States says the nuclear talks with Iran could collapse soon, but the parties to the talks are "in the ballpark" of a possible deal.

  • x
  • US President Joe Biden's special adviser on Middle East affairs Brett McGurk
    US President Joe Biden's special adviser on Middle East affairs Brett McGurk

The world is now "on the verge of a nuclear crisis," according to senior US diplomat Brett McGurk, President Joe Biden's point person on the Middle East.

McGurk explained his assertion by attributing it to the Iranian nuclear program advancing "even as it faced tremendous setbacks, it continues to advance."

According to the diplomat, the Iranian nuclear program is getting to a point where the breakout time, "the time at which it would have enough fissile material to be able to divert material for a weapons program," he claimed.

The diplomat's words came during an interview for Carnegie Endowment with Aaron David Miller. They came in response to a question about the fate of the negotiations on the Iran nuclear deal in Vienna.

McGurk cited former IOF chief Gadi Eizenkot, who said the former administration's withdrawal from the Iran nuclear deal was a strategic mistake, adding it "led to an unshackled Iranian nuclear program."

US not a very great position under Trump

McGurk highlighted the state in which the United States was in when Biden took office from Trump, saying, "We had two dozen rockets falling on our embassy in Baghdad, we were flying B-52 bombers from the continental United States to the Middle East and back as shows of force, we had Iran enriching uranium to 20%."

He attributed the situation to the Trump administration's decision, though he clarified there was no blame-casting. 

"This problem is not one that we should be having because the JCPOA [...] put a cabin on Iran's nuclear program through 2031," he noted.

When the Trump administration made the decision to withdraw from the agreement, according to McGurk, some predicted Iran would "never dare restart its nuclear program," asserting that whoever had dealt with Iran would have known otherwise.

Related News

Trump to hold phone calls with Putin, Zelensky amid ceasefire push

Trump foreign gifts raise alarms over ethics, influence amid Gulf ties

The diplomat underlined that the world was on the verge of reaching the point of a breakout as Blinken noted that the Iranian nuclear talks would reach a culmination point soon.

"We're going to know very soon whether or not it is possible for Iranians to return to compliance with the nuclear deal on terms that we and the international community can accept," McGurk said.

The negotiations are reportedly back to where they had been at the end of last summer before the hiatus, meaning there is a chance for a deal, the diplomat asserted. However, he said there was also a pretty good chance there would not be a deal.

"We are prepared for either scenario. If there is no deal, we are prepared for that scenario," McGurk declared.

The 'less-for-less' approach

Miller asked the diplomat about the "less-for-less approach" and whether he perceived it as viable.

The less-for-less view is based on less compliance from Iran in terms of its nuclear program and less sanction removal from the West on the Islamic Republic.

McGurk said this would be a good way to buy time, but the United States is more inclined toward returning to full compliance with the JCPOA. "That is what I think gives us international community comfort that this program is not going to break out."

Departure of a senior US negotiations team member

A few days back, several news outlets reported that Richard Nephew, a senior US negotiator, was no longer on the negotiations team.

When asked about the seemingly mysterious departure, McGurk explained that it was over a post in the state department.

"Richard is going to a new position at the state department," he clarified, saying the negotiating team comprises of the intelligence community, the department of energy, and the treasury; it's a pretty large, multi-facet team.

The US blames President Raisi

When the Raisi team came back to the Vienna talks in December, McGurk claimed, "They walked in the door with all sorts of walking-back everything that had been done over the course of the summer" with the previous administration.

Tehran, the senior diplomat said, came back to the negotiation table with new proposals claiming that this happened after their currency "collapsed" and now the parties are "in the ballpark of a possible deal."

McGurk said he was not going to put odds on reaching a deal, but "there's a very good chance that these talks collapse soon, and then we're gonna shift to something else. We are ready for that."

  • United States
  • Ebrahim Raisi
  • Russia
  • P4+1
  • Hassan Rouhani
  • Vienna talks
  • E3
  • Joe Biden
  • Donald Trump
  • Iran

Most Read

Two F-35 jets arrive at it's new operational base Wednesday, Sept. 2, 2015, at Hill Air Force Base, in northern Utah. (AP)

F-35 near-misses over Yemen signal new risks for 'Israel': Forbes

  • Politics
  • 14 May 2025
Palestinians pray over bodies of people killed in the Israeli bombardment who were brought from the Shifa hospital before burying them in a mass grave in the town of Khan Younis, southern Gaza Strip, Wednesday, Nov. 22, 2023. (AP )

Gaza casualty figures mask a much bigger horror, new study shows

  • Politics
  • 11 May 2025
Abu Obaida

Abu Obeida posts shortly after Israeli reports about his assassination

  • Palestine
  • 15 May 2025
Gaza and the logic of necropolitics: Sovereignty measured by killing

Gaza and the logic of necropolitics: Sovereignty measured by killing

  • Politics
  • 15 May 2025

Coverage

All
Gaza prevails against genocide

Read Next

All
A Microsoft sign and logo are pictured at the company's headquarters, Friday, April 4, 2025, in Redmond, Wash. (AP)
Technology

Microsoft admits supplying AI to 'Israel' amid Gaza carnage

Israeli occupation’s tanks parked in a staging area near the border with Gaza, Friday, May 16, 2025. (AP)
Politics

'Israel' launches multi-axis assault in Gaza under 'Gideon’s Chariots'

People stand at the train ticket counter of NJ Transit at Penn Station, amid a strike by New Jersey Transit train engineers, in New York, Friday, May 16, 2025. (AP)
Economy

Commuters stranded amid first New Jersey railway strike in 40 years

Trump's tax bill stalls as Republican opposition demands deeper cuts
US & Canada

Trump's tax bill stalls as Republican opposition demands deeper cuts

Al Mayadeen English

Al Mayadeen is an Arab Independent Media Satellite Channel.

All Rights Reserved

  • x
  • Privacy Policy
  • About Us
  • Contact Us
  • Authors
Android
iOS