Upon entering the White House about a year ago, President Joe Biden placed the renewal of the nuclear deal with Iran at the top of his administration's priorities.
His spokesmen made it clear that he needed an agreement that would remove the Iranian question from the agenda, at least for now, so that he and his government could be free to address issues that were really important to Washington, most notably the rivalry with China in the Far East.
The Iranian regime also seems eager, albeit much less than Biden, to be sure, to reach a renewed and improved nuclear deal that will lead to the removal of economic sanctions, and that will allow it to stabilize and strengthen its domestic position.
But despite such opening conditions, no breakthrough has been achieved over the past year, and negotiations have lengthened and lengthened and have known mostly crises that seemed to have driven Washington away from Tehran. All interest and desire to reach a renewed agreement.Washington, for its part, has found itself trailing and reacting hesitantly to Iran's moves and especially to its provocations.
At one point, two or two months ago, the Americans seemed desperate and the possibility of reaching an agreement was blocked.
In Washington, there have even been statements that all options are open and on the table, a clumsy and unreliable hint of the possibility of a military attack.
But in a magic wand, and in the shadow of rising tensions between Washington and Beijing and also Moscow - which has even opened a new front in Ukraine against the US - talks have resumed, and Iranian and American spokesmen predict a near breakthrough that will bring both sides to the long-awaited agreement. A green light for the agreement when he declared that "talks, and by implication also an agreement, with the enemy does not mean Iran's surrender."
The subjects and givers probably deserve a Nobel Prize, but not for peace but for an excellent theatrical play.
After all, the Iranians need an agreement like breathable air, more than they are willing to admit.
But they manage to convey a lack of care as if the whole thing does not concern them.
The Americans, on the other hand, transmit hesitation and weakness and especially eagerness to reach an agreement at any cost.
The Iranians are the negotiators, and they operate on the principle that an agreement must never be signed at the 91st minute and not a moment before, and that is likely to happen.
There is no need to get too excited about the threats from both sides and the atmosphere of crisis they sometimes bother to broadcast.
After all, the parameters of the agreement were set on the day Biden entered the White House, and since then the Iranians have only improved them and in all that said in their nuclear project they are in a much more advanced state than a year ago.
The agreement will probably not be possible to prevent or improve its terms, and therefore Iran will remain within touching distance of a nuclear bomb under the auspices of the agreement.
But what can be done is to intensify the fight against it throughout the Middle East, in Syria, in Iraq and now also in Yemen.
It is a struggle that has been successful, especially in Syria, and also enjoys regional and international support, in which it is possible to win.
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