The United States and its partners are likely to exert pressure on Tehran if it uses talks scheduled to resume on Monday as a pretext to accelerate its nuclear programme, the US special envoy for Iran has said.
Robert Malley is leading the US negotiating team in the indirect talks with Iran in Vienna. The negotiations, with the participation of major powers, resume after a five-month hiatus. They will be the first to be held since Iran's hardline President Ebrahim Raisi took office in August.
"If Iran thinks it can use this time to build more leverage and then come back and say they want something better, it simply won't work. We and our partners won't go for it," Mr Malley told the BBC in an interview broadcast on Saturday.
Tehran is demanding the immediate lifting of all sanctions imposed by former US president Donald Trump after he pulled Washington out of the 2015 nuclear agreement.
The pact, officially called the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, reached between Iran and the world powers in 2015, lifted restrictions on Tehran in return for curbs on its atomic activities.
Iran responded to the US withdrawal from the deal in 2018 by increasing its levels of uranium enrichment and other nuclear activities.
"If that's Iran's approach, which is to try to use the negotiations as cover for an accelerated nuclear programme and, as I say, drag its feet at the nuclear table, we will have to respond in a way that is not our preference," Mr Malley said.
"Nobody should be surprised if at that point there is increased pressure on Iran.
"We hope not to get that there but if we are, then pressure will have to increase to send a message to Iran that the choice it is making is the wrong one – that it has a different path available to it but it's not a path open indefinitely because Iran's nuclear programme is putting the very essence of the deal negotiated [in 2015] at risk."
On Sunday, Iran's negotiating team, led by Ali Bagheri Kani, held bilateral and trilateral meetings in Vienna, the semi-official ISNA news agency reported, before a resumption of the nuclear talks designed to revive the agreement.
"The Iranian team arrived on Saturday in Vienna and started meetings, which continued on Sunday at an expert level with the heads of the Russian and Chinese negotiating teams, as well as the EU Co-ordinator, Enrique Mora," Iranian diplomat Mohammadreza Ghaebi told ISNA.
Israeli Prime minister Naftali Bennett said his country is "distrurbed" by the willingness of world powers to lift sanctions on Iran.
"Israel is very disturbed by the willingness to lift sanctions and allow billions (in US dollars) to flow into Iran in exchange for insufficient nuclear restrictions," he said during a cabinet meeting.
This is the message that we convey in every way to the Americans and to all the countries negotiating wit Iran. The foreign minister will convey a similar message in his meetings in London and Paris this week,” Mr Bennett added.
In the meantime, diplomats say time is running out to resurrect the pact.
Six rounds of indirect talks were held between April and June. The new session begins after a hiatus triggered by the election of Mr Raisi.
"They are doing enough technically so they can change their basic relationship with the West to be able to have a more equal dialogue in the future," said a Western diplomat involved in the talks.
Two European diplomats said it seemed that Iran was simply playing for time to accumulate more material and know-how.
Iran's leading negotiator and its foreign minister both repeated on Friday that full lifting of sanctions would be the only thing on the table in Vienna.
"If this is the position that Iran continues to hold on Monday, then I don't see a negotiated solution," one of the European diplomats said.
Several diplomats said Iran was now four to six weeks away from the "breakout time" it needs to amass enough fissile material for a single nuclear weapon but it was still about two years from being able to use it.
Should the talks collapse, the likelihood is the US and its allies will initially confront Iran at the International Atomic Energy Agency gathering next month by calling for an emergency meeting.
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ABU DHABI ORDER OF PLAY
Starting at 10am:
Daria Kasatkina v Qiang Wang
Veronika Kudermetova v Annet Kontaveit (10)
Maria Sakkari (9) v Anastasia Potapova
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more from Janine di Giovanni
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WOMAN AND CHILD
Director: Saeed Roustaee
Starring: Parinaz Izadyar, Payman Maadi
Rating: 4/5
Brief scores:
Toss: Nepal, chose to field
UAE 153-6: Shaiman (59), Usman (30); Regmi 2-23
Nepal 132-7: Jora 53 not out; Zahoor 2-17
Result: UAE won by 21 runs
Series: UAE lead 1-0
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Why are asylum seekers being housed in hotels?
The number of asylum applications in the UK has reached a new record high, driven by those illegally entering the country in small boats crossing the English Channel.
A total of 111,084 people applied for asylum in the UK in the year to June 2025, the highest number for any 12-month period since current records began in 2001.
Asylum seekers and their families can be housed in temporary accommodation while their claim is assessed.
The Home Office provides the accommodation, meaning asylum seekers cannot choose where they live.
When there is not enough housing, the Home Office can move people to hotels or large sites like former military bases.
MATCH INFO
Uefa Champions League final:
Who: Real Madrid v Liverpool
Where: NSC Olimpiyskiy Stadium, Kiev, Ukraine
When: Saturday, May 26, 10.45pm (UAE)
TV: Match on BeIN Sports
Other acts on the Jazz Garden bill
Sharrie Williams
The American singer is hugely respected in blues circles due to her passionate vocals and songwriting. Born and raised in Michigan, Williams began recording and touring as a teenage gospel singer. Her career took off with the blues band The Wiseguys. Such was the acclaim of their live shows that they toured throughout Europe and in Africa. As a solo artist, Williams has also collaborated with the likes of the late Dizzy Gillespie, Van Morrison and Mavis Staples.
Lin Rountree
An accomplished smooth jazz artist who blends his chilled approach with R‘n’B. Trained at the Duke Ellington School of the Arts in Washington, DC, Rountree formed his own band in 2004. He has also recorded with the likes of Kem, Dwele and Conya Doss. He comes to Dubai on the back of his new single Pass The Groove, from his forthcoming 2018 album Stronger Still, which may follow his five previous solo albums in cracking the top 10 of the US jazz charts.
Anita Williams
Dubai-based singer Anita Williams will open the night with a set of covers and swing, jazz and blues standards that made her an in-demand singer across the emirate. The Irish singer has been performing in Dubai since 2008 at venues such as MusicHall and Voda Bar. Her Jazz Garden appearance is career highlight as she will use the event to perform the original song Big Blue Eyes, the single from her debut solo album, due for release soon.
UAE SQUAD
Goalkeepers: Ali Khaseif, Fahad Al Dhanhani, Mohammed Al Shamsi, Adel Al Hosani
Defenders: Bandar Al Ahbabi, Shaheen Abdulrahman, Walid Abbas, Mahmoud Khamis, Mohammed Barghash, Khalifa Al Hammadi, Hassan Al Mahrami, Yousef Jaber, Salem Rashid, Mohammed Al Attas, Alhassan Saleh
Midfielders: Ali Salmeen, Abdullah Ramadan, Abdullah Al Naqbi, Majed Hassan, Yahya Nader, Ahmed Barman, Abdullah Hamad, Khalfan Mubarak, Khalil Al Hammadi, Tahnoun Al Zaabi, Harib Abdallah, Mohammed Jumah, Yahya Al Ghassani
Forwards: Fabio De Lima, Caio Canedo, Ali Saleh, Ali Mabkhout, Sebastian Tagliabue, Zayed Al Ameri
Recycle Reuse Repurpose
New central waste facility on site at expo Dubai South area to handle estimated 173 tonne of waste generated daily by millions of visitors
Recyclables such as plastic, paper, glass will be collected from bins on the expo site and taken to the new expo Central Waste Facility on site
Organic waste will be processed at the new onsite Central Waste Facility, treated and converted into compost to be re-used to green the expo area
Of 173 tonnes of waste daily, an estimated 39 per cent will be recyclables, 48 per cent organic waste and 13 per cent general waste.
About 147 tonnes will be recycled and converted to new products at another existing facility in Ras Al Khor
Recycling at Ras Al Khor unit:
Plastic items to be converted to plastic bags and recycled
Paper pulp moulded products such as cup carriers, egg trays, seed pots, and food packaging trays
Glass waste into bowls, lights, candle holders, serving trays and coasters
Aim is for 85 per cent of waste from the site to be diverted from landfill
