Welcome willingness to talk on part of Iran

Iran’s decision to hold talks with France, Germany, and the United Kingdom — three of the nations that spearheaded a resolution of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) that censures Iran’s “lack of cooperation” over its nuclear programme — offers some reassurance amid rising portents of nuclear harm. It is a welcome departure from the flare-up in the immediate aftermath of the IAEA resolution, with Iran announcing an intent to launch “new and advanced centrifuges” (these are used for nuclear enrichment to generate weapons-grade uranium).

Iran and the West need to rebuild trust. The IAEA resolution came soon after the agency’s head visited the West Asian nation and suggested that Tehran is ready to cap its near-weapons-grade stock of enriched uranium. However, West-based critics of Iran fear — very likely not without reason, given the country’s response to the resolution — that its nuclear programme is geared to add to its weapons stockpile.

Both parties need the talks to be fruitful. Iran’s economy is facing the pinch of the West Asia conflict, and this will only worsen when Donald Trump returns as United States (US) president, given his hostility towards Tehran. The deadlock over US sanctions on Iran couldn’t be ended during the Joe Biden presidency over compliance with the terms of the landmark 2015 agreement between Tehran and Washington. The West, on the other hand, wouldn’t want the fault lines in West Asia to deepen. Nuclear clouds are already gathering over the global community, with many countries feeling that the non-proliferation doctrine is failing and Russia lowering the threshold for nuclear response. The last thing the world needs against such a backdrop is a belligerent Iran.

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