TEHRAN, Iran — As we approach negotiations on a final nuclear deal between Iran and the P5+1 (United States, Britain, France, Russia and China plus Germany), various stakeholders predictably are maneuvering themselves.

On Feb. 4, US lead negotiator Wendy Sherman testified before a Senate hearing that Iran’s ballistic missile program will be addressed as part of a comprehensive accord. Days later, an International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) delegation arrived in Tehran for talks on expanded cooperation. The visit ended with a breakthrough — Iran agreed to address some PMD (Possible Military Dimension) concerns for the first time in years. This followed IAEA Director General Yukiya Amano’s participation in a panel with Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif in Munich. At that session, Amano was explicit in calling for more Iranian cooperation on outstanding issues. However, the only outstanding matter he brought up specifically was Iran’s past experiments with polonium-210 — a matter considered resolved by his predecessor.

It's worth bearing in mind that the IAEA seeks access to military sites, including Parchin, and data related to the Iranian ballistic missile program. Iran faces the allegation that it has carried out computer modelling possibly intended to develop an atomic warhead for its ballistic missiles. While cooperation on this matter was not agreed on in Tehran on Feb. 9, it is likely to be brought up sooner or later.

Also on Feb. 9, reports surfaced of Iranian lawmakers alleging that the Supreme Iranian National Security Council, headed by President Hassan Rouhani, had stopped a scheduled annual missile drill. On Feb. 10, Defense Minister Hossein Dehghan announced the test-firing of a new generation of long-range ballistic missiles. The exact details of the missile tests, including whether those announced on Monday are related to the drills of whose cancellation lawmakers alleged on Sunday, remain unclear.