Is momentum building to revive Iran's nuclear deal?

Momentum appears to be building to revive negotiations around Iran’s growing nuclear program. Talks between Iran and the European Union on Wednesday focused on key sticking points, including nuclear enrichment levels and Iranian cooperation with the International Atomic Energy Agency, one diplomatic source briefed on the matter told CNN.

Could Iran's nuclear deal be used for nuclear weapons?

Iran’s 2015 landmark nuclear deal with world powers had put limits on its nuclear program — which the West fears could be used for making nuclear weapons although Tehran insists is only for peaceful purposes — while lifting punitive economic sanctions imposed on Iran.

Do Iranians have a right to cheap energy?

Subsidies are so large and have been in place for so long that many Iranians — suffering from high inflation, falling living standards and a sliding national currency — have come to feel they have a right to cheap energy.

Why has Iran stepped up nuclear activity?

Iran has stepped up nuclear activity since 2019, after Trump during his first term abandoned a 2015 deal Iran had reached with world powers, under which it curbed enrichment, and restored tough U.S. sanctions on the Islamic Republic. Iran's work on enrichment has been seen by the West as a disguised effort to develop nuclear weapons capability.

How much energy did Iran spend in 2022?

According to the IMF, Iran spent $163bn in explicit and implicit energy subsidies in 2022, which amounted to more than 27 per cent of GDP — the highest share of the economy of any country in the listing.

Why does Iran have a shortage of electricity & gas?

Chronic under-investment in infrastructure exacerbated by US sanctions as well as mismanagement and huge state subsidies — which encourage high fuel consumption and overburden the cash-strapped state — have left Iran with worsening shortages of electricity, gas and petrol.