For Iranians, 2021 started amid rising tensions with the United States that threatened war breaking out on the first anniversary of the assassination of General Qasem Soleimani, the commander of the Revolutionary Guards’ Quds Force and the mastermind of Iran’s regional strategy.
The year also kicked off during the final days of President Donald Trump in office. Trump was the architect of the maximum pressure campaign against Iran.
Gradually, Iranian-US tensions were reshaped by changes to the political equation in Washington and Tehran.
The shift began with President Joe Biden taking over the White House and expressing his willingness to reduce tensions and restore the 2015 nuclear deal.
A month after taking office, the Biden administration agreed to accept a European invitation to return to the negotiating table, eased restrictions on the movement of Iranian diplomats in New York, and asked the UN Security Council to freeze the previous administration’s move to reimpose international sanctions on Tehran.
It took negotiators 75 days to find a way to kickstart talks in Vienna. They launched on April 6, with the US participating indirectly, paving the way for a new marathon of negotiations between Tehran and major countries.
Six rounds of talks, which began on April 6 and ended on June 20, concluded with a draft agreement that both sides said stood for 70% to 80% percent of the required understanding.
European mediators and diplomats from China and Russia have created three separate working groups.
Two groups are examining which sanctions Iran wants to be lifted and the nuclear commitments needed from Tehran. The third group works on coordinating steps.
Throughout discussions, diplomats spoke of “constructive progress” with cautious optimism.
At the end of the third round of negotiations on May 1, Iran’s then-chief nuclear negotiator, Abbas Araghchi, said Tehran expects US sanctions on oil, banks, and other sectors and on most individuals and institutions to be lifted based on agreements reached so far at the talks.
In the fourth round, diplomats began talking about the need for a political decision in the capitals.
At the end of the fifth round, on May 25, Araghchi said that “the differences have reached a point that everyone believes is solvable.”
With no agreement reached, talks were halted on June 20, the day after the results of the Iranian presidential elections were announced.
Iran’s return to the negotiating table in Vienna was delayed more than 5 months, before it resumed on November 29, with fundamental changes to its negotiating team, currently led by Ali Bagheri, one of the most prominent critics of the 2015 nuclear deal.
In 2021, Iran continued to ramp up its nuclear deal violations by enriching uranium to greater purity than permitted, stockpiling more enriched uranium than allowed, and using more advanced centrifuges.
In January, Iran said it had resumed 20% uranium enrichment, a step away from producing weapons-grade levels, at Fordow site where activity was banned for 15 years.
Early July, Iran took concrete steps to produce uranium metal. That is a breach of the deal, which bans all work on uranium metal since it can be used to make the core of a nuclear bomb.
Also, Iran has warned that it could impose restrictions on IAEA inspectors in the country on February 21 if the US does not lift sanctions, which would mark the most serious breach of the deal.
