The nuclear talks in Vienna between Iran and world powers were slated to resume on Monday on the heels of eight failed rounds of negotiations.
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The negotiations seeking to salvage the 2015 nuclear deal are resuming against the backdrop of Iran standing firm on its demand for immediate, unconditional sanctions relief and warnings by Western diplomats that the Islamic republic is deliberately dragging its feet and that time was running out to save the agreement, official titled Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action.
Still, Russian delegate to the Vienna talks Mikhail Ulyanov sounded optimistic on Sunday, saying he believes the parties could reach a deal by mid-February. His remarks seemed to follow reports by Russian and Chinese news outlets saying that Moscow and Beijing have been able to get Tehran to show flexibility on some of its demands.
As the nuclear negotiation broke for the Christmas holiday, Iran and the US accused each other of making unreasonable demands.
The discordant tones prompted US Special Envoy on Iran Rob Malley to warn Tehran was "playing with fire" in the region and that reviving the 2015 nuclear agreement was far from a done deal.
"We've seen Iran's nuclear program expand, and we've seen Tehran become more belligerent, more bellicose in its regional activities," Malley said of Iran's activities this year. "They are miscalculating and playing with fire."
Meanwhile, a senior Israeli defense official told New Yorker magazine last week that the reason that Iran was being so brazen in its dealings with the West was simple: There is no deterrent factor.
"The problem with Iran's nuclear program is that, for the time being, there is no diplomatic mechanism to make them stop," said Zohar Palti, former intelligence director in the Mossad, who currently heads the Defense Ministry's political-military bureau.
"There is no deterrent. Iran is no longer afraid. We need to give them the stop sign," he told the New Yorker. "We don't want to reach a point where we will have to ask ourselves how Iran was allowed to enrich [uranium] to 90%."
Iran, for its part, pushed against the West again over the weekend with a satellite space launch.
The move sparked concerns that the satellite launch systems incorporated technologies interchangeable with those used in ballistic missiles capable of delivering a nuclear warhead.
"The United States remains concerned with Iran's development of space launch vehicles, which pose a significant proliferation concern," a US State Department spokesperson said.
A German diplomat said such launches could be used to test technology for ballistic missiles that in principle could be used to deliver nuclear weapons.
France condemned Iran's move, saying it was "all the more regrettable" as nuclear talks with world powers were making progress.
Iran said it had used a satellite launch rocket to send three research devices into space. It later acknowledged that the launch had failed to put its three payloads into orbit after the rocket was unable to reach the required speed.
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