Nevertheless, the sources expressed concern that Tehran might not be ready to make the full spectrum of concessions necessary to reach a new deal.
Instead, it was possible that Iran might be looking to relieve pressure from the significant economic sanctions imposed on it, or even merely to play for time in the midst of ongoing unstable developments in the Middle East, the sources said.Optimism about a return to a nuclear deal within the EU comes from a mix of recognizing that recently elected Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian campaigned on trying to restore a nuclear deal, which would improve the country’s economic situation, along with recent statements by Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei indicating renewed openness to a deal.
The role of Iran's new president
Furthermore, several key Iranian officials who negotiated the 2015 nuclear deal are back in power as part of Pezeshkian’s government, signaling negotiators with greater flexibility and closer relations with the West.
However, a variety of Iranian official statements and past experience in the negotiations to restore some kind of a nuclear deal have suggested that Tehran will no longer return to the full 2015 nuclear restrictions, nor will it clarify past possible nuclear military dimensions that the IAEA has asked about. READ MORE
