Building on the November 2013 Geneva interim agreement between Iran and the P5+1, aimed at reaching a “comprehensive solution” to bring the crisis over Iran’s nuclear program to a peaceful end, negotiators are scheduled to resume talks in Vienna on Feb. 18-19. However, a recent barrage of verbal attacks by high-ranking Iranian military and political officials, including Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, in response to the repeated US use of the “all options are on the table” mantra, perhaps more palpable on the Iranian side, may have already hardened the two sides’ positions before the new round of talks has even begun.

The new round of US threats started with US Secretary of State John Kerry’s statements on Jan. 23 in his interview with Al Arabiya. If Iran does not meet the commitments it has made with the P5+1, “the military option of the United States is ready and prepared to do what it would have to do,” Kerry remarked.

Five days later, President Barack Obama, in his State of the Union address, warned Congress that he would veto any new sanctions bill. But in the meantime he used sharp language on Iran, from emphasizing the untrustworthiness of the Iranian government to threatening them with military attack. “We are clear-eyed about Iran's support for terrorist organizations … and the mistrust between our nations cannot be wished away,” he said. He added, "If Iran’s leaders do not seize this opportunity, then I will be the first to call for more sanctions, and stand ready to exercise all options to make sure Iran does not build a nuclear weapon.”

Obama made other remarks that in Iranian culture could be interpreted as humiliating and “talking from an upper-hand position.” At one point, he said, “American diplomacy, backed by pressure, has halted the progress of Iran's nuclear program and rolled parts of that program back.”