The United States seeks to "lengthen and strengthen" the 2015 nuclear deal with Iran, Secretary of State Antony Blinken stated last week, effectively clearing the path for Washington to find its way back to the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action- , which former US President Donald Trump unilaterally left in 2018.
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Meanwhile, International Atomic Energy Agency Director General Rafael Grossi has failed to convince Iran not to limit his inspectors' access to the country's nuclear sites, Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has proclaimed, "If we wanted nukes, nobody, including the Zionist clown, could stop us."
The rhetoric and series of steps taken both on the public stage and behind the scenes show that negotiations between world powers and the Islamic republic over a new nuclear deal is gaining speed and may even be more advanced than the public knows.
Grossi, in his diplomatic way, addressed the Iranian law that prompted his visit to Tehran, by which unless the US lifts the crippling sanctions imposed on Iran, it would limit IAEA inspectors' access to the country's nuclear facilities.
While he was able to broker a compromise, Grossi said that the Iranian law will be implemented, as said concession only bought the UN nuclear watchdog three months before Iran curbs the video surveillance of its facilities.
Grossi noted that the understandings on the matter with Iran were flexible, in the sense that they could be expanded or suspended at will – mostly Iran's – and had to admit that his agency's oversight of Iran's nuclear endeavors will have to be diminished.
He made no real progress in terms of halting Iran's nuclear ambitions or mitigating its threat to restrict IAEA inspectors' operations, but he knows that the Iranian regime has to heed political pressure at home, too.
This all means that we are facing a period of uncertainty over Iran's enrichment efforts, as the era of snap IAEA inspection has apparently come to its end.
Grocci has, however, given Iran a respectable "out" by means of the three-months clause. If by then Tehran decided to allow the IAEA full access to its nuclear facilities, it would appear as "cooperative" with the West's demands.
These three months allow all parties to recalibrate their course and come back to the negotiation table with a fresh outlook on the old-new deal. Still, there is one party whose integers will not be taken into account at this time, as was the case in 2015: Israel.
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