The Iranian regime has claimed that they have secured talks with the UN Security Council’s P4+1 member states in Brussels on Thursday regarding restoring the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), however, officials from Europe and the United States have stated that besides the current talks in Vienna, no other talks are scheduled.

The regime’s president, Ebrahim Raisi, along with his administration has previously stated that they are unwilling to “negotiate for negotiations.” Despite their continual breaching of the terms of the JCPOA and the ramping up of their nuclear activities, and with Western powers reluctant to challenge the breaches, the regime was hoping to acquire further concessions from the West during the restoration of the nuclear deal.

The recent demands of starting a new series of negotiations in Brussels before the Vienna talks, again show the regime is trying to kill time as it continues its nuclear activities.

A report by Reuters outlined that the European Union had downplayed the idea of serious talks regarding Iran’s nuclear activities outside of the already agreed negotiations in Vienna.

Ned Price, the spokesperson for the U.S. State Department said on Monday that the U.S. government “does not think talks in Brussels are necessary before the resumption of indirect negotiations with Iran on a return to the 2015 nuclear deal in Vienna.”

The regime’s delaying tactics with negotiations are a smokescreen so that it can continue to expand its nuclear program and race towards obtaining nuclear weapons so that it can maintain its hold over the Iranian people, in a time when the calls for regime change are growing stronger day by day.

The regime used the same method to force the world powers to give it concessions during the JCPOA talks in 2015. Tehran’s current top negotiator confirmed this fact in 2019.

Ali Bagheri Kani gave an interview in 2019 where he acknowledged that the regime needed to buy time to practice their enrichment procedures and work on readying their nuclear sites. He said, “So, this required some time to achieve. Therefore, we bought some time. But when they were ready to negotiate a deal, the negotiation process expedited.”

With the regime continuing to breach its commitments under the terms of the JCPOA, in September it seemed likely that the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Board of governors would adopt a firm policy towards the regime, so the regime struck a deal on September 12 with the chief of the IAEA, Rafael Grossi, to allow IAEA inspectors to visit Iran to replace monitoring equipment. However, just over two weeks later, reports from the IAEA indicated that the regime changed its minds and denied the inspectors access to the TESA Karaj centrifuge component manufacturing workshop to carry out the agreed maintenance.

Western powers should note that Tehran’s nuclear extortion campaign is not a sign of strength. Iran’s economic crises have been accelerating due to the regime’s corruption and misusing natural resources for funding terrorism. Sanctions have crippled the regime’s terrorist apparatus.

President-elect of the NCRI, Maryam Rajavi spoke out when the JCPOA was signed and stated that the deal, “which lacks the requirements of an official international treaty, would neither block the mullahs’ pathways to deception nor their access to a nuclear bomb.”

The Western powers should not succumb to the regime’s nuclear extortion. They should increase sanctions and adopt a firm policy toward the regime. This is the only way to prevent mullahs from obtaining a nuclear weapon.