Hot take on Vienna … and the other Iran talks:

Rouhani notes 60-70% progress in Vienna. Let’s start in Vienna, where talks are underway for the return of both the United States and Iran to compliance with Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA). The details are trickling out and the messages are mixed, but the headline (cutting through the daily pressers and remarks, on and off the record) is that talks are ongoing and some type of roadmap to reconciliation may be emerging. While expressing all sorts of reservations and caution, Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi nonetheless said on April 20 that the talks are on the "right track." Iran President Hassan Rouhani said today that "negotiations have progressed 60 [to] 70%, and if the Americans operate within a framework of honesty, we will see a result in a short time.” We wrote here last month that the Biden administration’s "textbook diplomacy with Iran," by rebuilding the frayed connection with European partners first, was paying off.

The other track goes through Baghdad. And then there are the "other" Iran talks, the ones brokered by Iraqi Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi between Iranian and Saudi officials last week. These talks are no less consequential, given the depth of animosity between two of the region’s major powers. The Baghdad backchannel between Iran and the Gulf had been ongoing prior to the Iran-Saudi talks and also involves the United Arab Emirates and Egypt, according to Amwaj.

Bottom line. If there was a fault to the JCPOA back in 2015, it was that there was no complementary regional security track. That’s what is now beginning to happen in Iraq. The transition of Iraq from battlefield to bridge in such a short time is about as positive a turn one can imagine for Iraq, its role in the region and its value as a strategic partner of the United States.