Iran lacks clear fallback plan if nuclear talks with US collapse

Iran may strengthen ties with China, Russia as it rejects US demands to halt enrichment

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DUBAI/PARIS - While rising US-Iran tensions over Tehran's uranium enrichment jeopardise nuclear talks, three Iranian sources said on May 20 that the clerical leadership lacks a clear fallback plan if efforts to resolve a decades-long dispute collapse.

With negotiations faltering over clashing red lines, Iran may turn to China and Russia as a Plan B, the sources said, but with Beijing's trade war with Washington and Moscow distracted with its war in Ukraine, Tehran's backup plan appears shaky.

"The Plan B is to continue the strategy before the start of talks. Iran will avoid escalating tensions, it is ready to defend itself," a senior Iranian official said.

"The strategy also includes strengthening ties with allies like Russia and China."

On May 20, Iran's supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, rejected US demands to halt uranium enrichment as "excessive and outrageous", warning that the talks are unlikely to yield results.

After four rounds of talks aimed at curbing Iran's nuclear programme in return for sanctions relief, multiple stumbling blocks remain. Tehran refuses to ship all of its highly enriched uranium stockpile abroad or engage in discussions over its ballistic missile programme, two of the Iranian officials and a European diplomat said.

The lack of trust on both sides and President Donald Trump's decision to pull out of a 2015 accord with world powers also raised the importance for Iran of getting guarantees that Washington will not renege on a future accord.