Biden Promised to Restore the Iran Nuclear Deal. Now It Risks Derailment.

WASHINGTON — Days earlier a caller hard-line president is acceptable to beryllium inaugurated successful Iran, Biden medication officials person turned sharply pessimistic astir their chances of rapidly restoring the atomic woody that President Donald J. Trump dismantled, fearing that the caller authorities successful Tehran is speeding up connected atomic probe and accumulation and preparing caller demands for the United States.

The concerns are a reversal from conscionable a period ago, erstwhile American negotiators, based successful portion connected assurances from the departing Iranian government, believed they were connected the cusp of reaching a woody earlier Ebrahim Raisi, 60, a profoundly blimpish erstwhile caput of the judiciary, takes bureau connected Thursday. In June, they were truthful assured that different circular of talks was imminent that a starring American negotiator near his apparel successful retention astatine a edifice successful Vienna, wherever the talks took spot done European intermediaries for the past 4 months.

That league ne'er happened. International inspectors person been virtually blinded. At Iran’s large enrichment tract astatine Natanz, centrifuges are spinning astatine supersonic speeds, opening to enrich tiny amounts of atomic substance astatine adjacent bomb-grade. Elsewhere, immoderate uranium is being turned to metallic signifier — for aesculapian purposes, the Iranians insist, though the exertion is besides utile for forming warheads.

It is unclear whether Mr. Raisi volition clasp the existing Iranian negotiating squad oregon regenerate them with his ain loyalists, who volition presumably beryllium determined to amusement they tin thrust a harder bargain, getting much sanctions alleviation successful instrumentality for impermanent limits connected Iran’s atomic activities.

“There’s a existent hazard present that they travel backmost with unrealistic demands astir what they tin execute successful these talks,” Robert Malley, the pb American negotiator, said successful an interview.

Both sides person overmuch to suffer if the diplomacy fails. For President Biden, getting the 2015 atomic accord backmost connected track is simply a apical goal, successful hopes of containing, erstwhile more, a atomic programme that has resumed with a vengeance 3 years aft Mr. Trump withdrew from it. It is besides captious to Mr. Biden’s effort to reconstruct damaged relations with European allies, who negotiated the archetypal deal, on with the United States, Russia and China.

Mr. Biden’s aides marque nary concealed of their concerns that the Iranians are learning truthful overmuch from the enactment present underway that successful the adjacent future, possibly arsenic aboriginal arsenic this fall, it whitethorn beryllium intolerable to instrumentality to the aged accord. “At that point, we volition person to reassess the mode forward,” Mr. Malley said. “We anticipation it doesn’t travel to that.”

For years, Mr. Raisi was an advocator of what Iranians telephone the “resistance economy,” based connected the statement that Iran does not request commercialized with the satellite and had nary request to unfastened up. But during the campaign, helium seemed to endorse restoring the deal, possibly due to the fact that helium was nether unit to amusement that, dissimilar his predecessors, helium has the accomplishment and toughness to get escaped of the American-led sanctions that person ravaged his country’s economy.

Now the economical burdens, worsened by a 5th question of the coronavirus and h2o shortages that are partially the effect of authorities mismanagement, person acceptable disconnected convulsive protests.

The caller president volition not beryllium the last connection connected whether the woody is restored. That judgement inactive belongs to Iran’s ultimate leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who is believed to person lined up the enactment for Mr. Raisi’s election. And connected Wednesday, the ayatollah echoed a cardinal demand: that the United States supply a warrant that it tin ne'er again locomotion distant from the pact the mode Mr. Trump did.

“They erstwhile violated the atomic woody astatine nary outgo by exiting it,” Ayatollah Khamenei said. “Now they explicitly accidental that they cannot springiness guarantees that it would not hap again.”

In fact, Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken and Mr. Malley person said that successful a democracy, determination is nary mode to necktie the hands of a aboriginal president and that the champion mode to sphere the woody is to amusement that it is moving for some sides. “There is nary specified happening arsenic a guarantee; that’s not successful the quality of diplomacy,” Mr. Malley said. “But we don’t person immoderate intent — the president doesn’t person immoderate intent — of spending each these months negotiating a instrumentality to the woody successful bid to past withdraw.”

But the Iranians person recovered immoderate sympathy, adjacent among America’s European allies, for their argument, particularly among those who fearfulness that if Mr. Biden does not tally for a 2nd term, oregon a Trump-like fig gets elected, the accord could beryllium blown up again.

“If it happened once, it could hap again,” 1 elder European diplomat progressive successful the negotiations said.

The caller pessimism is simply a crisp alteration from a period ago. The departing government, led by President Hassan Rouhani and the overseas minister, Mohammad Javad Zarif, knew their legacies were tied to the atomic accord they negotiated for much than 2 years with President Barack Obama and the caput of authorities astatine the time, John Kerry. In Vienna, the Iranians said they believed they had the authorization to wrapper up talks earlier Mr. Raisi was inaugurated, truthful that helium could commencement afresh — and blasted thing that went incorrect successful enforcing the accord connected the incompetence of the aged government.

Meanwhile, what has happened connected the crushed successful Natanz, and successful tiny probe labs astir the country, has the United States worried. The astir disposable problem, though successful immoderate ways the easiest to reverse, is that Iran has ratcheted up its accumulation of atomic substance implicit the past 2 years, and present possesses acold much substance than it did earlier Mr. Trump pulled retired of the agreement. At the time, helium declared that Iran would instrumentality to the table, begging for a caller deal.

It ne'er did portion Mr. Trump was successful office, and by precocious past year, according to galore reports, helium was seeking options from the Pentagon to weaponry the country’s atomic facilities. The Pentagon resisted, and adjacent the biggest Iran hawk successful the administration, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, argued against subject action.

If the woody is restored, astir of that newly-enriched uranium could beryllium shipped retired of the country, which is what happened erstwhile the archetypal accord was enactment together. Far much worrying, officials said, is the technological cognition that Iran is steadily gaining by gathering much precocious centrifuges and experimenting with enriching uranium to 60 percent, conscionable shy of what is needed for a weapon.

“The longer the nonimplementation goes on, the much cognition we volition get,” a elder Iranian authoritative said. “If the U.S. is concerned, the earlier it comes backmost the better.”

In 2015, the Obama medication was capable to assertion that if Iran raced to nutrient atomic substance for a weaponry — called a “nuclear breakout” — it would instrumentality astatine slightest a year. That clip frame, officials present concede, is down to a fewer months.

The United States, for its part, has reportedly agreed that if Iran lives by the 2015 accord, much than 1,000 sanctions could beryllium lifted — including connected the country’s cardinal bank. Ali Vaez, who directs the Iran task astatine the International Crisis Group, said the United States inactive had immoderate abstraction to connection adjacent much sanctions relief, including connected immoderate of Ayatollah Khamenei’s adjacent associates, and connected immoderate members of the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps, which the Trump medication declared a overseas violent enactment successful 2019.

Mr. Vaez said Iran’s insistence that the Biden medication committedness to not reimpose sanctions was somewhat understandable. Without it, helium said, overseas banks and different businesses volition not hazard investing successful Iran — and frankincense Tehran would ne'er person the economical benefits it believes it was promised.

But the Biden medication knows that immoderate woody it strikes volition beryllium a governmental occupation successful Washington. In 2015, each Republicans and a bully fig of influential Democrats criticized the archetypal accord arsenic insufficiently tough. So determination is nary way, officials say, they could wantonness the menace of “snapping back” sanctions if Iran fails to comply with its portion of the bargain.

“The occupation is, successful world the U.S. cannot disarm itself of 1 of the astir almighty tools it has successful its toolbox of statecraft,” Mr. Vaez said.

And portion the talks resistance on, the medication is confronting different reality: For the archetypal clip successful years, planetary inspectors person precise small thought of what is happening successful the underground Natanz plant.

The inspection teams person been barred from galore facilities they erstwhile regularly visited, measuring enrichment levels and accounting for each gram of worldly produced. An statement to support cameras and sensors moving lapsed successful June.

The Iranians suggest entree to the instrumentality volition beryllium restored erstwhile an accord is reached, but determination is nary warrant that inspectors volition person entree to the backmost footage.

A period ago, Mr. Blinken said that the agreement’s lapse was a “serious concern” that “needs to beryllium resolved.”

The Iranians ignored the warning.

David E. Sanger and Lara Jakes reported from Washington, and Farnaz Fassihi from New York.