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Iran nuclear talks: to revive deal 'the only solution is to lift all sanctions'

EU, Iranian and Russian diplomats sounded upbeat as Iran and world powers held their first talks in five months to try to save their 2015 nuclear deal, despite Tehran taking a tough stance in public that Western powers said would not work. Iran is determined to get all sanctions dropped from the US and EU, in force since 2018, as a condition of returning to the 2015 JCPOA agreement. Even with all of the immense challenges that lie ahead, the dropping of all sanctions is actually one point of contention that could very well be resolved, says Marc Finaud, Head of Arms Proliferation at the Geneva Center for Security Policy. "The agreement was based initially on this reciprocity, the lifting of all sanctions in return for restrictions and concessions by Iran on its nuclear programme." But then, in May 2018, the US "pulled out (of the agreement) and reinstated sanctions," explains Mr. Finaud. From there, "Iran felt, on the basis of that reciprocity, entitled to suspend some of its commitments. And so now the only solution is to lift all sanctions to allow Iran to revert, to come back, to full compliance with the agreement."