Three European powers said on Tuesday "we are rapidly reaching the end of the road" to save the 2015 Iran nuclear deal as Tehran accused Western powers of engaging in a "blame game" and a Gulf Arab summit in Saudi Arabia urged Tehran to take concrete steps to ease regional tensions.
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The comments from Britain, France and Germany suggest indirect US-Iran talks on preserving the pact under which Iran limited its nuclear program in return for relief from economic sanctions may be approaching collapse, with all sides seeking to avoid being held responsible.
"Iran's continued nuclear escalation means that we are rapidly reaching the end of the road," France's ambassador to the United Nations, Nicolas de Riviere, said at the world body, reading a joint statement from the three European powers.
"We are nearing the point where Iran's escalation of its nuclear program will have completely hollowed out the JCPoA," he added, referring to the pact, named the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action.
Iran cast itself as the aggrieved party as a result of then-US President Donald Trump's 2018 decision to abandon the deal and reimpose harsh US sanctions, a move that prompted Tehran to begin violating its nuclear restrictions about a year later.
On Twitter, Iran's top nuclear negotiator, Ali Bagheri Kani, wrote: "Some actors persist in their blame game habit, instead of real diplomacy. We proposed our ideas early, and worked constructively and flexibly to narrow gaps."
Referring to the 2018 US withdrawal, he wrote: "Diplomacy is a two-way street. If there's real will to remedy the culprit's wrongdoing, the way for a quick, good deal will be paved."
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Washington continues to pursue diplomacy with Iran because "it remains, at this moment, the best option," but added that it was "actively engaging with allies and partners on alternatives."
The stakes are high. Failure would carry the risk of a new regional war. Israel, which has twice attacked the nuclear facilities of Arab nations, is pushing for a tough policy if diplomacy fails to rein in Iran's nuclear work.
Indirect talks between Iran and the United States started in April but stopped in June after the election of hard-line cleric Ebrahim Raisi, whose negotiators returned to Vienna after five months with an uncompromising stance.
Iran's Ambassador to the United Nations Majid Takht Ravanchi said Tehran exercised "maximum restraint" after the US withdrawal and "paid a heavy price" to try to preserve the deal.
"Asking for objective and verifiable guarantees from the party responsible for the whole mess before us is absolutely warranted and necessary," he told the world body.
Iran's clerical rulers believe a tough approach, spearheaded by their strongly anti-Western Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, can force Washington to accept Tehran's "maximalist demands," analysts and diplomats said.
"But it could backfire. This is a very dangerous and sensitive issue. Failure of diplomacy will have consequences for everyone," said a diplomat in the Middle East, speaking on condition of anonymity.
During the seventh round of talks, which began on Nov. 29, Iran abandoned any compromises it had made in the previous six, and demanded more from others, a senior US official said.
With significant gaps remaining between Iran and the United States on some key issues – such as the speed and scope of lifting sanctions and how and when Iran will reverse its nuclear steps – chances of an agreement seem remote.
Iran insists on the immediate removal of all sanctions in a verifiable process. Washington has said it would remove curbs "inconsistent" with the nuclear pact if Iran resumed compliance, implying it would leave in place others such as those imposed under terrorism or human rights measures.
Iran also seeks guarantees that "no US administration" will renege on the pact again. But US President Joe Biden cannot promise this because the nuclear deal is a non-binding political understanding, not a legally binding treaty.
Dramatically upping the ante, Iran has also limited access given to UN nuclear watchdog inspectors under the nuclear deal, restricting their visits to declared nuclear sites only.
However, a spokesman for the Iranian foreign ministry told state-run Press TV that an understanding with the Vienna-based International Atomic Energy Agency could come soon.
In Riyadh, meanwhile, Gulf states also reiterated a call to include the region in the Vienna talks.
Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman told the annual gathering of Gulf leaders before the final communique was issued that the nuclear and missile programs of longstanding adversary Iran should be handled "seriously and effectively."
"So far the reports show there is some stalling by Iran and we hope this will turn to progress in the near future," Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan al-Saud told a press conference after the Gulf summit.
He said that while Gulf states prefer to be part of the talks they would be "open to any mechanism" that addresses their concerns, which also include Iran's regional proxies, such as Hezbollah in Lebanon, Houthi rebels in Yemen, and Shiite militias in Iraq and Syria.
Sunni Muslim Saudi Arabia and Shiite Iran are vying for influence in a rivalry that has played out across the region in events such as Yemen's war and in Lebanon, where Hezbollah's rising power has frayed Beirut's Gulf ties.
Riyadh and the United Arab Emirates are both engaging with Iran in a bid to contain tensions at a time of deepening Gulf uncertainty over the US role in the region, and as the oil-producing states focus on economic growth.
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Prince Faisal said the talks had seen no "real change on the ground" but that "we are open, we are willing."
Iran's president has said his foreign policy priority would be improving ties with Gulf neighbors.
The Saudi crown prince toured the Gulf in a show of solidarity ahead of the summit, which took place nearly a year after Riyadh put an end to a 3.5-year Arab boycott of Qatar.
Saudi Arabia and non-Gulf Egypt have restored diplomatic ties with Doha but the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain have yet to do so, though Abu Dhabi has moved to mend fences.
The four boycotting states had accused Qatar of supporting Islamist militants, a charge Doha denied.
Saudi Arabia and the UAE have shifted away from hawkish foreign policies to a more conciliatory approach as they vie to lure foreign investment, and win over US President Joe Biden.
The UAE has acted faster to improve ties with Iran and Turkey, while also re-engaging with Syria after forging relations with Israel last year.
