TOI correspondent from Washington: US vice-president JD Vance emerged from two days of talks with Iranian leaders in the Swiss Alps over the weekend claiming a “major milestone” of having persuaded Tehran to allow inspectors from the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) back into the country, reopening a pathway to international monitoring of its nuclear program. Soon after, the Trump administration lifted oil sanctions on Iran, issuing a 60-day waiver authorizing the sale and transport of Iranian crude and petroleum products through August, a concession designed to keep negotiations alive.In remarks at the end of the initial round of talks, Vance also asserted — while pushing back at criticism the Trump administration has given away the store to Tehran — that if Iranian assets are eventually unfrozen, those funds would be used to purchase American agricultural products.“If Iranian assets are ever unfrozen, they are going to make American farmers richer and help feed the Iranian people,” Vance said, crediting Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner with the idea. He also said his initial engagement with the Iranians would be followed by technical-level talks during the 60-day ceasefire window to arrive at a final agreement. For the Trump administration, Vance appeared to have clinched a desperately needed truce to calm growing political disquiet at home ahead of the mid-term elections in November, with the vice-president’s own political future at stake. But for critics, it all sounded suspiciously like the rediscovery of an arrangement that already existed, with experts pointing out that IAEA inspections were part of the Obama-era JCPOA deal before President Trump tore it up in 2018. “Next week, Trump will announce he invented the wheel — a round wheel the likes of which the world has never seen. The week after that, sliced bread,” jibed one analyst, the sarcasm reflecting broader skepticism surrounding the Switzerland talks, where the atmosphere, going by visuals that emerged on social media, was anything but warm and fuzzy.The body language alone provided enough material for diplomatic lip-readers to stay busy for days. Vance led the American delegation into the meeting room first crowded with Pakistani and Qatari interlocutors. Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi arrived later, briefly conferred with Pakistani officials and departed, amid reports that they declined a joint photo opportunity with the Americans because of President Trump’s provocative statements and continued Israeli attacks in Lebanon. Ignored handshakes, threatened walkouts and visibly frosty exchanges hardly suggested the dawn of a grand reconciliation.After roughly 80 minutes of discussions, Iranian negotiators reportedly suspended talks in protest over Trump’s latest social media threats regarding Lebanon before eventually returning to the table after Vance reportedly explained that Trump’s remarks were in response to Iranian provocations. At the end of more discussions, Vance was able to claim tangible progress amid general skepticism in Washington, where there are many critics sharpening their knives just waiting for the mission to fail. While Trump and Vance supporters saw an elegant solution in unfrozen Iranian money buying American wheat, corn and soybeans rather than flowing into military rearming that Washington is leery of, policy wonks were less impressed, recalling Vance’s own warnings after the October 7 attacks, when he argued that “money is fungible” and that financial relief for Tehran in one area could indirectly strengthen the IRGC.The apparent shift has left some conservatives performing rhetorical gymnastics. Compounding the controversy, the US Treasury Department on Monday moved with remarkable speed to demonstrate Washington’s seriousness, issuing a broad 60-day sanctions waiver authorizing the sale and transport of Iranian crude oil and petroleum products through August, a significant concession designed to keep negotiations alive. The waiver covers banking, insurance, transportation and related commercial activities and represents one of the most substantial sanctions easings toward Iran in years. For Israel and many of its supporters in Washington, the announcement landed with all the subtlety of a bunker-buster. The pro-Israel constituency in US is still reeling from the new Trump-Vance formulation that every country in the region has legitimate security concerns and the right to defend itself, and that Iran too has the right to maintain conventional ballistic missile capabilities under a future settlement framework.The broader picture is that Vance appears to have salvaged something out of talks that repeatedly threatened to collapse under the weight of the MAGA’s boss’ social media hand grenades. Throughout the negotiations, Trump continued firing at Iran and threatening further mayhem, sending its delegates into fits of indignation. At one point, according to Vance, the Iranians nearly walked out altogether, but he was able to retrieve the situation. Behind the scenes, two unlikely diplomatic facilitators helped keep the process on life support: Pakistan and Qatar. Both countries served as mediators, even though both have many critics in the US.
