As Iranian President Hassan Rouhani prepares to leave office in a few months’ time, a significant breakthrough has been made on the nuclear deal front. Officials from Iran and its partners in the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) — the formal name for the Iran nuclear deal signed in 2015 — met virtually on April 2, paving the way for another meeting in Vienna, in person, on April 6. According to Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif, the meeting’s aim is to “rapidly finalize sanction-lifting and nuclear measures for choreographed removal of all sanctions, followed by Iran ceasing remedial measures.”

A Western diplomatic source told Al-Monitor that the meeting on April 6 was coordinated through a back channel and not during the video conference, without providing more details.

The gathering in Vienna will be the first since US President Joe Biden came to power. However, according to statements issued by the United States, the European Union and Iran, there’ll be no direct engagement between Iranian and American officials. A US delegation will be in Vienna, yet they plan to meet separately with the EU coordinator to “clearly identify sanctions lifting and nuclear implementation measures, including through convening meetings of the relevant expert groups,” according to a statement issued by the EU.

In principle, this could be seen as a positive development. However, in the context of the nuclear standoff, this could be a recipe for another dire failure. In Tehran, the margin the Foreign Ministry and the government had a few months ago is vanishing gradually. This is due to two factors. The first is the forthcoming presidential election and the fact that, according to a source close to the country’s supreme national security council, “The country and a new government doesn’t have to live with the shortcomings of an agreement that could be negotiated on better terms.” The source, who asked not to be identified, told Al-Monitor, “The decision to engage with the world powers is strategic, but Iran already did its part of the deal and it’s time that the other parties abide by their commitments.”