<article><p class="lead">Iran's president-elect Ebrahim Raisi said today that he is not prepared to negotiate with the US over Tehran's regional activities or its ballistic missiles programme, a position that could present a very real challenge to Washington's long-held target of strengthening the 2015 nuclear agreement. </p><p>The idea of follow-up talks with Iran over other areas of contention — such as its ballistic missiles programme and its ongoing support for regional militias — has been a key component of US president Joe Biden's efforts to garner support both at home and from US allies in the Mideast Gulf for a revival of the nuclear agreement that his predecessor famously dubbed the "worst deal ever negotiated". But even the Biden administration is acknowledging that follow-up deals would be difficult to achieve. Getting additional concessions from Iran once the nuclear agreement, known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), is revived would require reciprocal concessions that the US would be unwilling to contemplate, secretary of state Tony Blinken told a Senate panel earlier this month. </p><p>Discussions on the regional or ballistic missile issues are "non-negotiable", Raisi said today in his first press conference following his 18 June election win. "To the US I say: you pledged to lift all sanctions under the JCPOA but did not. Return to it and deliver on your commitments. And to the Europeans I say: do not bend to the pressure of US foreign policy and again, act on your pledges under the deal." </p><p>If the US cannot deliver on what has "already been negotiated, agreed upon and signed", it is in no position to discuss other issues, Raisi said, adding that he will not meet with Biden even if Washington's return to the nuclear deal is eventually agreed. </p><p>Former US president Donald Trump pulled the US out of the JCPOA in mid-2018 and reimposed crippling sanctions on Iran's key banking and oil sectors, prompting Tehran to scale up its nuclear activities to levels beyond what was permitted under the terms of the deal. Talks to revive the agreement between Iran, the US and the other parties to the deal — the UK, France, Germany, Russia and China — have been taking place in Vienna since the start of April. Diplomats involved in the negotiations say progress has been made but some significant differences remain. </p><p>"Today we are closer than ever to an agreement," Iran's deputy foreign minister Abbas Araqchi said yesterday at the close of the sixth round of talks in the Austrian capital before heading back to Tehran for further consultations. "But gaps still remain and closing those gaps will not be easy." Still, <a href="https://direct.argusmedia.com/newsandanalysis/article/2226604">Araqchi did not rule out the possibility of a breakthrough being reached soon</a>. He said he hoped that the talks could be concluded once the delegations return to Vienna for the next round of discussions. </p><h2>Last orders</h2><p>Russia's top envoy to the Vienna talks, Mikhail Ulyanov, said today that the break in negotiations will "ensure that all participants get final political instructions on the remaining controversial issues". He said yesterday that the next round of discussions "is supposed to be the final round". </p><p>The participants have not yet decided when the talks will resume, but Ulyanov said it could be anywhere between seven and 12 days. With the hardline Raisi not set to formally take office until early August, the outgoing administration of Hassan Rohani still has more than a month to get an agreement on a return to the JCPOA over the line. And even if the negotiations were to spill over into the beginning of Raisi's term, Iran's nuclear policy is being driven not by the president but by the supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who has made clear his support for the talks. Raisi has stressed that he too supports the talks as long as they "guarantee the national interest".</p><p class="bylines">By Nader Itayim</p></article>
