Iran nuclear talks resume

Negotiators from several countries returned on Monday to the same hotel in Vienna where they signed a nuclear agreement with Iran in 2015. While U.S. President Joe Biden signaled he wants to rejoin the deal that former President Donald Trump withdrew from in 2018, a U.S. delegation is only indirectly involved.

What is the deal? The original deal between Britain, China, France, Germany, Russia, the United States, and the European Union limited Iran’s uranium enrichment in exchange for lifting economic sanctions. Since the deal collapsed, Iran has renewed enrichment programs and limited other countries from monitoring them. When the United States left the agreement, Trump reimposed sanctions and froze billions of dollars in assets. Iran’s new hard-line government crippled progress and stalled negotiations for five months. Critics say a revived agreement will not prevent Iran from becoming a nuclear power. Leaders in Israel again warned on Monday that Iran cannot be trusted to honor the terms of any agreement.

Dig deeper: Listen to Jill Nelson’s report on Iran’s new president and his stance on the nuclear deal on The World and Everything in It podcast.