United States

I think the clock is running out, and there's a great amount of pressure on both sides to arrive at some type of agreement, whether that is one that we can call a durable peace settlement, I think that would be rather far-fetched. What's more likely is a conditional or a phased approach that might emerge over the next few days during talks in Islamabad or another venue...But overall, it is positive that diplomacy has been ongoing. There's been great momentum by regional actors in the Middle East."

When it comes to applying pressure, the Iranians have shown they can asymmetrically do so very effectively, very quickly, with relatively little military cost,” said HA Hellyer, a senior associate fellow at Rusi, the London think-tank. “But in so doing, they’ve wrecked their connections with pretty much the whole Gulf Arab region . . . It’s not clear the relationship will ever really fully recover.”

Iran insiders are rumbling about the looming economic catastrophe if Washington does not grant sanctions relief that would unlock prospects for economic recovery,” said Burcu Ozcelik, senior research fellow with the London-based Royal United Services Institute think tank. “Without the prospect of economic recovery, regime survival beyond the short term will face sustained structural and popular pressure.”