Nuclear Talks between Iran and World Powers will resume in Vienna on Thursday

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European diplomat chairing nuclear talks between Iran and world powers, Enrique Mora said nuclear talks will resume in Vienna on Thursday. On Wednesday, Enrique Mora said on Twitter that the parties to the 2015 Vienna accord will meet in the Austrian capital after consulting with their governments in recent days. European diplomats had urged Tehran to come back with realistic proposals after Iran’s delegation made numerous demands last week that were deemed unacceptable by the other parties to the accord including Britain, China, France, Germany, and Russia. It is important that the United States withdrew from the agreement in 2018 under former US President Donald Trump. But President Joe Biden has indicated that the US is willing to return and American diplomats in Vienna are being briefed by other powers.

Moreover, the Vienna accord (known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action) was designed to rein in Tehran’s nuclear program in return for loosening economic sanctions against Iran. Iran has ramped up its nuclear program again by enriching uranium beyond the thresholds allowed in the agreement following the US decision to withdraw and re-impose sanctions. Tehran has also restricted monitors from the UN atomic watchdog from accessing its nuclear facilities, which raised concerns about Iranian activities behind closed doors. On Tuesday, US Senate rejected a bid from a bipartisan group of lawmakers to stop President Joe Biden’s administration from selling more than $650 million worth of weapons to Saudi Arabia, allowing the deal to proceed despite the gulf nation’s dismal record on human rights.

It is noteworthy that Saudi Arabia is one of the most steadfast US allies in an unstable region of the globe. On the Senate floor, Paul said, “We could stop this war if we really had the will to do it. All of America should be appalled at the humanitarian disaster caused by the Saudi blockade of Yemen”. Sanders said, “The United States must do everything in our power to bring this brutal and horrific war to an end. Exporting more missiles to Saudi Arabia does nothing but this conflict will pour more gasoline on already raging fire”. US Congress repeatedly tried to stop former Donald Trump from selling billions worth of arms to the country. Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell urged that countries like Russia or China would step into the void and provide the weapons, rendering the gesture meaningless.