Talks resumed in the Austrian capital Vienna last week between Iran and the ‘P4+1’ group of UK, France, Russia, China and Germany – over reconstituting the 2015 JCPOA nuclear agreement. This seventh round of talks was the first in five months (MEES, 5 November), following the election of hardliner Ebrahim Raisi as president (MEES, 6 August).

The US withdrew from the JCPOA in May 2018 when then-President Trump re-introduced sanctions on Iran (MEES, 26 May 2017). But despite the major economic pressure the country is under (MEES, 25 June), Tehran is showing little in the way of urgency for an agreement to be reached. (CONTINUED - 632 WORDS)