, Columnist
A Nuclear End Game as Two Stubborn Nations Dig In
Negotiators have worked hard to bring the Iran pact back from the brink — now it’s up to leaders in Washington and Tehran to seal the deal.
Work was kick-started on a second reactor at Iran’s Bushehr nuclear power plant in 2019.
Photographer: Atta Kenare/AFP/Getty ImagesThis article is for subscribers only.
In the end, it will all come down to hardliners in Washington and Tehran.
Months of indirect talks between the U.S. and Iran have failed to bring either country back into the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action after Donald Trump, in one of the greatest own-goals of his presidency, withdrew from the pact in 2018 and imposed harsh sanctions on the Persian Gulf nation. Tehran responded by expanding its nuclear program in breach of the accord.