Diplomacy with Iran or a Return to War?
WANA (Feb 27) – Yesterday’s talks between Iran and the United States in Geneva have concluded. According to the Omani foreign minister, technical discussions are set to take place next week in Vienna.
At the same time, he emphasized that the negotiations ended with “significant progress.” Iran’s foreign minister also described the talks as having made “very good progress” and stated that both sides have agreed to hold a fourth round of negotiations in the near future.
Meanwhile, various media outlets have published conflicting reports about the atmosphere of the talks. Overall, however, it appears that a considerable gap still remains between the two sides.
Despite the possibility that their positions may have drawn closer on certain issues and that new ideas have been proposed, agreement has yet to be reached on several key sticking points, and differences persist.
The venue of the nuclear negotiations in Geneva and the arrival and departure of the negotiating delegations. Social media/ WANA News Agency
From this perspective, the failure to achieve even a preliminary agreement or a general framework during this sensitive round cannot be viewed as a positive sign—although the decision to proceed with technical negotiations could be seen as somewhat encouraging.
That said, attention now turns to the U.S. side’s assessment. American negotiators will present their report and evaluation of the talks to Donald Trump, and it remains to be seen what his final decision will be—whether the “significant progress” noted by the Omani foreign minister will satisfy the U.S. president enough to allow negotiations to continue, or whether a different course of action will follow.
If we consider the experience of the negotiations that preceded the 12-day war, however, a repetition of that model cannot be ruled out. At that time, despite positive rhetoric about the atmosphere and progress of the talks—and even the scheduling of a sixth round—war broke out on the very night before the next round of negotiations was set to begin.
Therefore, a positive assessment of the current talks and an agreement to continue discussions do not necessarily guarantee a final deal.
This time as well, given the completion of U.S. military deployments in the region, the possibility of a repeat of the 12-day war scenario remains. In any case, the coming hours and days will be crucial, as they may offer a clearer picture of the path ahead and the outlook for future developments.
LATEST UPDATES ON IRAN-U.S. NUCLEAR TALKS / FEB 26
WANA – Our team is closely monitorthe latest developments regarding the new round of Iran–U.S. nuclear talks here. Good Progress in Geneva Talks, Next Talks to Be Held Within a Week WANA (Feb 26) – Seyed Abbas Araghchi, Iran’s Foreign Minister, said Thursday night that “good progress” had been achieved following the third […]
