As the United States and Iran prepare for talks to revive the nuclear agreement that Washington abandoned in 2018, the leadership in Tehran is laying the groundwork for a newly assertive foreign policy. Iran believes Washington has treated the Islamic Republic with deception and disrespect, and it is focused on building economic and military leverage against its longtime antagonist.
Iran’s chief nuclear negotiator recently announced that talks to revive the nuclear deal, known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, would resume in Vienna before the end of November. Former President Hassan Rouhani’s administration participated in six rounds of negotiations intended to return both sides to “mutual compliance” with the JCPOA. Diplomacy came to a halt, however, after Ebrahim Raisi, a conservative, was inaugurated as Iran’s president in August.
