Russia Says Nuclear Talks Are Making Progress: Iran Snapshot

(Bloomberg) -- Here is a snapshot of what’s happening with Iran, its nuclear talks and energy markets.

Latest developments

Russia said nuclear talks were “moving forward,” in the latest possible sign of easing tension between Iran and world powers including the U.S.

“We had a productive discussion on the remaining most difficult issues to be settled,” Mikhail Ulyanov, Russia’s chief nuclear negotiator, said of a meeting with Robert Malley, the U.S. Special Envoy for Iran, on Wednesday.

His comments came shortly after the U.S. allowed South Korea to send at least $63 million of funds frozen by sanctions to Iran. While that’s a fraction of the billions of dollars Iran said it’s owed for oil exports, it appeared to be a concrete achievement.

Still, France warned this week negotiators are still a long way off reviving a 2015 accord that limited Iran’s atomic activities in return for sanctions relief. The U.S. pulled out in 2018.

The talks “remain at an impasse over fundamental issues,” analysts at Eurasia Group, including Henry Rome, said in a note. “The odds of a revived deal have increased slightly given some limited Iranian flexibility, but the overall likelihood remains low and concentrated in the first half of the year.”

Latest coverage

• Russian Envoy Says Iran Nuclear Talks Are ‘Moving Forward’
• U.S. Allows South Korea to Send Funds to Iran in Talks Success
• Pentagon Links Iran Intelligence to ‘MuddyWater’ Hacking Group
• Tehran Rejects Talk of Interim Nuclear Deal: Iran Snapshot

Oil

Oil snapped a two-day winning streak. Brent dropped around 0.3% by 6:41 a.m. in London to $84.45 a barrel, as traders weighed the impact of the omicron coronavirus variant on Asian demand.

Crude has risen around 9% since the start of the year amid supply disruptions in countries such as Libya, Kazakhstan and Canada. Many traders also forecast that Iranian barrels won’t come back to the market before at least the middle of 2022.

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