The Takeaway: What will it take to jumpstart Iran nuclear talks?
Jihadi spat in Idlib; Palestinians’ fashion feud; Lapid pivots left; Palestinians reject Armenian land sale in Jerusalem; Turkey’s generals and Syria; Qatari artist bemoans plastic pollution; and more! In less than 1,200 words.
Hot Take: What next for beleaguered nuclear deal?
No cheer at UNGA for JCPOA. "Anyone hoping for quick progress in talks to restore the Iran nuclear deal would find little reason for cheer in the posture adopted by Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian," writes Mark Fitzpatrick.
Depends on what he means by ‘soon.’ Making the rounds at the UN General Assembly (UNGA) last week, Amir-Abdollahian repeatedly said Iran would "soon" return to negotiations over the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), or Iran nuclear deal, but gave no sign Tehran was ready to pick up where his predecessor, Mohammad Javad Zarif, left off in June. Instead, Amir-Abdollahian insisted the next steps should come from the United States, which he said must fulfill its JCPOA commitments by waiving all sanctions imposed since US President Donald Trump withdrew from the deal in May 2018. Only then would Iran reverse the "reversible" actions it has taken with regard to expanding its production of highly enriched uranium required to process a nuclear weapon.
