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Transcript/ScriptUS-RUSSIA-IRAN-NUCLEAR
HEADLINE: Iran: Parties Closer ‘Than Ever Before’ to Revive Nuclear Deal
TEASER: Iran nuclear negotiations in Vienna have been paused since March 11, but Tehran says delegates are close to an agreement
PUBLISHED AT: 03/24/2022 at 6:42 pm
BYLINE: Cindy Saine
CONTRIBUTOR:
DATELINE: Washington
VIDEOGRAPHER:
PRODUCER: Kimberly Weeks
SCRIPT EDITORS: BR, cobus
VIDEO SOURCE (S): VOA, Reuters, AP, AFP, Saine Skype video interview, MRT
PLATFORMS (mark with X): WEB __ TV _X_ RADIO __
TRT: 3:33
VID APPROVED BY: Reifenrath
TYPE: TVPKG
EDITOR NOTES: Please note all of the Iran-Tehran B-roll is STRICTLY NO USE VOA PERSIAN))
((INTRO: ))
[[Top U.S. officials say it is now up to Iran to take the tough decisions necessary for it to return to the Iran nuclear deal, after almost a year of multilateral talks in Vienna. But some U.S. lawmakers from both major parties are urging caution, saying a bad deal is worse than no deal at all. VOA's Senior Diplomatic Correspondent Cindy Saine reports.]]
((NARRATOR))
Iran’s Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdollahian made headlines in Damascus Wednesday with this statement about the Iran nuclear talks in Vienna.
((Hossein Amirabdollahian, Iranian Foreign Minister (male in Farsi) ))
“We believe that today we are closer to an agreement in Vienna than ever before."
((NARRATOR))
The Vienna talks, underway for almost a year, are aimed at curbing Tehran’s nuclear program in exchange for lifting tough economic sanctions on Iran.
But the negotiations have been paused, with U.S. officials sounding less optimistic the two sides will reach agreement to revive the 2015 nuclear deal that former U.S. President Donald Trump withdrew from in 2018.
State Department spokesperson Ned Price says it is up to Tehran to make the tough decisions necessary to get the deal over the finish line.
((Ned Price, State Department Spokesperson))
"An agreement of this sort is neither imminent nor is it certain and so that is precisely why, for the better part of the year, we have been preparing for either contingency, for either scenario.”
((NARRATOR))
Some experts say the longer negotiations are paused, the less likely it is the parties will reach an agreement.
((Henry Rome, Eurasia Group))
"Yeah, I think the longer the pause, the greater the risk that the talks enter a kind of zombie state where there is neither a breakthrough nor a breakdown. But Iran continues with its nuclear advancements.” ((NARRATOR))
The talks had appeared close to agreement, experts say, until Russia demanded its trade with Tehran not be hurt by sanctions imposed because of its invasion of Ukraine.
But Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said Moscow has received American guarantees that it can continue its involvement in Iran’s nuclear plan, as stipulated in the nuclear deal.
This has led some experts to warn that Russia wants to exploit the nuclear deal.
((Behnam Ben Taleblu, Foundation for Defense of Democracies))
((Mandatory Courtesy: Skype ))
“So, Russia has really positioned itself well to cash in from the nuclear trade, the military trade, and is not looking to layer on more direct, mercantilist economic trade with Iran. And all of this comes at a time when they're [Russia] hurting over the Ukraine invasion and they're basically successfully using Iran as a way to bypass that pain.”
((NARRATOR))
Taleblu adds that Iran needs to revive the nuclear deal for economic reasons, and that Tehran’s leaders know an agreement has become a divisive political issue in the United States.
On Capitol Hill, most Republican lawmakers continue to side with former President Trump in opposing reaching a nuclear deal with Iran.
Some worry the Biden administration might agree to remove the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps from the foreign terrorist organization list to get a deal.
Republican Senator Todd Young tweeted:
“Removing the Iranian Revolutionary Guard’s designation as a terrorist group and unfreezing its assets would be like pouring gasoline on a fire.”
Many Democratic lawmakers also worry about how quickly Iran might acquire a nuclear weapon. But most believe reviving the 2015 Iran nuclear deal is the only realistic way to stop that from happening.
((Cindy Saine, VOA News, Washington))
NewsML Media TopicsArts, Culture, Entertainment and Media
NetworkVOA
Location (dateline) Washington D. C.
Embargo DateMarch 24, 2022 22:14 EDT
BylineCindy Saine, VOA News, Washington
Brand / Language ServiceVoice of America - English
