Link to article: https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2022/1/24/iran-will-consider-direct-talks-with-us-says-foreign-minister
Summary: Tehran has expressed willingness to engage in talks with the US concerning the revival of the Iran nuclear deal. The US has been urging this 2015 accord revival to happen for years. Iran had scaled back it’s nuclear program as an attempt to lift international sanctions against it’s economy. The two countries have not participated in direct talks, instead communicating indirectly through Vienna. When Biden came into presidency, he pledged to restore the deal, saying one of the administrations top priorities is to prevent Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons. The US is also pushing for the release of 4 citizens who are currently imprisoned in Iran.
Analysis: I believe the restoration of the nuclear deal is important and essential to preventing nuclear proliferation in the middle east. If the US is successful in this, the US will face a lot of praise and the current administration will probably rise in popularity. Iran may become too resentful of the US to participate in these talks, considering they are very proud of their advances in nuclear technology. It will be interesting to see if these talks actually take place, and how long it takes to get to that point.
How does this relate to IR: This situation has a lot to do with liberalism and the core of reciprocity, which finds that a successful world system is reliant on diplomacy. The idea of collective security, which states that the success of collective security depends on members cooperation and commitment to agreements.