After months of deadlock and near death, the Iran nuclear deal has a new chance for revival. On Aug. 8, the European Union, which for the past 16 months has been acting as a broker between Iran and the United States in talks to restore the accord, presented what it called a final text of a compromise package that it hopes meets all parties’ bottom lines.
The EU text would require compromises for both main antagonists. Such is the nature of a negotiation, as was the case with the 2015 deal (which Al-Monitor noted in this week's Takeaway) known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA). Removing what has been seen as the key impediment to negotiations, Iran apparently has accepted that the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) will not be removed from the US Foreign Terrorist Organization list, instead agreeing to postpone this issue for a later discussion. Charges filed on Aug. 10 against an IRGC member for a plot to assassinate former national security adviser John Bolton underscored why President Joe Biden could show no leniency toward the group.