Nuclear talks with Iran are at an impasse. Just when a deal seemed imminent, Tehran resurrected a demand that the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) cease an investigation into potentially illegal uranium enrichment at three undeclared locations.
As well, Iran fired up advanced IR-6 centrifuges at an underground nuclear facility at Natanz, which will enhance the regime’s ability to produce weapons-grade uranium. Deputy U.S. Secretary of State Wendy Sherman, one of the architects of the failed 2015 Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) deal, said the two sides were at a “stalemate.” The Biden administration seems unlikely to make further concessions to the Mullahs with growing bipartisan opposition to the deal and midterm elections on the horizon.