An Israeli official dismissed European expressions of optimism in recent days as “manufactured optimism intended to pressure the Iranians to make a decision, but the Iranians don’t want to accept the deal as it is,” in comments published by the Ynet news site Tuesday.
Negotiators from Iran, the US, and the European Union resumed indirect talks over Tehran’s tattered nuclear deal on Thursday after a months-long standstill in negotiations. On Monday, a so-called final text was submitted to the parties to the talks in a last gasp bid to salvage the deal.
An unnamed source told the Haaretz daily that Iran would be hard-pressed to sign an agreement that was not an upgrade over the 2015 Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, as the original nuke deal was known.
“There’s no strategic change for the Iranians,” the source said in comments published Tuesday. “It will be very difficult for them to accept a deal that is not a significant improvement [from their perspective] on the original accord.” READ MORE
