Thread by @KasraAarabi

1)#Iran’s Foreign Ministry reporting that Raab spoke with Zarif ahead of this week’s #JCPOA talks in Vienna

Iran’s MFA reports Raab told Zarif “London will do its best to help negotiations bear fruit”.But #UK’s changing posture toward Iran should noted

Reflections on UK-JCPOA👇

2) Two weeks ago, the #UK published its Integrated Review (IR) – the biggest review of UK defence, security & foreign policy since cold war - where it outlined overarching international policy objectives until 2030.

Rising concerns about #Iran’s regime featured throughout 👇

3)The most noteworthy change in relation to #Iran policy was the absence of any reference to JCPOA.

Since 2015, the #UK has explicitly defined its Iran policy through the #JCPOA & its commitment to upholding it. So the absence of any mention of the JCPOA in the IR is important

4)Not only does the IR break from such posturing for the 1st time, but it implicitly acknowledges shortcomings of #JCPOA by calling for a “more comprehensive nuclear & #regional deal”

A govt source also told @TheSun: “The nuke deal does not go far enough”google.co.uk/amp/s/www.thes…

5) Commenting on the newly published IR report, Foreign Sec Dominic Raab specifically named #Iran as the looming threat that keeps him “awake at night”, asserting that “we must never see #Iran get a nuclear weapon.”thenationalnews.com/world/europe/u…

6) Of course, while the IR underscores the #UK’s pledge on “renewed diplomatic effort[s] to prevent #Iran from developing a nuclear weapon”, this no longer appears to be exclusively confined to boundaries of the #JCPOA gov.uk/government/pub…

7) This, coupled with the calls for the agreement to be expanded to cover #Tehran’s regional destabilisation, marks a significant shift in #UK govt’s Iran policy.

It is also aligns with the recently published @CommonsForeign report on #Iran committees.parliament.uk/committee/78/f…

8) The emergence of this new stance opens the opportunity for the #UK to play a leading role in working with the #Biden admin to explore expanding the remit of 2015 nuke agreement.

@TomTugendhat has also called on UK govt to lead efforts to “broker a replacement to the #JCPOA”

9) Given #Europe’s reluctance to tackle Iranian regional destabilisation, the #UK’s exit from the #EU means that it can, & should, play a key mediating role in bridging the gap between #Washington & #Brussels & developing a transatlantic policy towards Tehran.

10) In sum, the mood in London appears to have changed - both in govt & Parliament. There seems to be a recognition that the Iran landscape has significantly moved on from the 2015 status quo

How this plays out is yet to be seen. Full take @InstituteGC 👇
institute.global/policy/uk-inte…