Nuclear Discussions With Iran and the Rest of Europe
On Monday, it was announced that Iran planned to discuss nuclear activities and arrangements with France Germany, and Britain on Friday in Istanbul, Turkey.
During 2015, Iran created a nuclear plan including France, Germany, Britain, and the United States, which at the time, Obama had signed. However, once the new electoral cycle started . With the goal of trying to limit Iran’s Uranium, the three European countries supported a plan to punish Iran until the end of August if there was no progress in the nuclear arrangement.
Iran is under pressure to proceed in this deal not only because of threats from other countries, but also because of their current economic situation. A factor of their economic strain may be the decrease in oil exports due to U.S. sanctions. As seen through the U.S. Energy Information Administration statistics, in 2017, Iran was exporting around 2.5 million barrels a day. However, after 2018, when the sanctions occurred, Iran was only exporting approximately 0.4 million barrels per day in 2020. The drop in numbers shows how sanctions have affected their oil exports. Additionally, demonstrating how, now, Iran is in a tight economic circumstance, giving them more of a reason to continue advancing their nuclear agreement with the other European countries.
This deal will also bring Iran many great benefits. Iran is currently not seen as a country with great power. As of now, they don’t have clear nuclear transparency, possibly hiding their true capabilities. Iran has also performed several violations of past nuclear agreements. During the 2015 nuclear deal, after the U.S. had switched presidents and Trump had withdrawn from the arrangement, Iran had improved their uranium past the restricted limit, increasing the percentage of U-235 which can possibly cause a nuclear chain reaction. Since the arrangement involves three countries of immense powers, this can provide Iran with more credibility for its future negotiations and in a political aspect. The deal demonstrates to other countries that they are credible enough to negotiate between these large political countries.
As of now, Iran has confirmed to negotiate once again with France, Germany, and Britain about a new nuclear deal.