- No talks have begun with the US
- And they won’t because of US violations of memorandum of understanding
- There is no mention of a 60-day deadline in the text of the memorandum of understanding
- Iran will never formulate policies under pressure or time limits
- The agreement stipulated a 60-day period for two main issues
- That being “lifting sanctions” and “nuclear issues”, which could be extended
- The violations of the memorandum of understanding mean 60-day timeline became irrelevant
There is plenty of talk about the ceasefire agreement and/or memorandum of understanding expiring over the weekend. Yes, the one that was signed back in late June. But as Iran is making it clear, that 60-day timeline is no longer relevant as it was only after a few weeks after the signing that the agreement fell apart. It was pretty clear cut at the time that everything had fell apart but still, there are some parties trying to tie this all into a big thing.
The agreement at the time was supposed to outline the conditions that must be upheld for the next 60 days so that nuclear talks can take place. And those conditions included Iran “reopening” the Strait of Hormuz, the US lifting its naval blockade, Iran seeing some sanctions being lifted, and a ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah.
As mentioned back then, it was a case that everything would fall apart if just one of those conditions failed to be upheld. And as we all know, it was always just going to be a matter of time. So, it was proven to be as well.
Fast forward to today, we’re pretty much sitting back at a place where we were back in June before the agreement was signed. And we’re still no closer to any agreement, especially on nuclear talks, than we were back then too.
This article was written by Justin Low at investinglive.com.