In the upcoming week, changes may come for the nuclear deadlock as Iranian President-elect Ebrahim Raisi's administration begins, and the international community will make bigger efforts to promote global vaccine cooperation.
New chances for reviving JCPOA?
Next week, Ebrahim Raisi, a hardliner close to Iran's 82-year-old Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, will be inaugurated as Iran's president.
Tehran has said it will not return to nuclear deal talks at least until after Raisi is inaugurated, nearly two months after the end of the sixth round of indirect negotiations between the U.S. and Iran in Vienna, which are intended to restore the 2015 Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA).
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Rapprochement or war with Tehran subject to political power play
Raisi has stated that he wants to re-establish the shattered nuclear deal, which saw Iran limit its uranium enrichment in exchange for the relaxation of economic sanctions, while Khamenei recently described the United States as "stubborn" during the nuclear talks in Vienna over Tehran's missiles and regional influence.
Earlier this month, Iran told the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) it has taken steps to produce uranium metal enriched to 20 percent for use as reactor fuel, bringing Iran's nuclear project to a more advanced stage than any country without nuclear weapons is known to have reached.
International cooperation on vaccines
Chinese State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi will host a conference via video link on Thursday under the theme of "strengthening international cooperation on vaccines, promoting fair and equitable distribution of vaccines around the world," according to China's Foreign Ministry.
Foreign ministers or competent ministers of relevant countries, representatives of the United Nations and other international organizations, and representatives of relevant enterprises will attend the meeting on behalf of some 30 parties.
Experts in viral diseases and infectology have highlighted the efficacy of Chinese vaccines against COVID-19 and its new variants and the National Health Commission said Saturday that more than 1.63 billion doses of COVID-19 vaccines had been administered in China by Friday.
Day by day
Monday: Brazil's President Jair Bolsonaro meets his counterpart from Portugal's President Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa in Brasilia, the 54th ASEAN Foreign Ministers' Meeting (AMM) and other related meetings are held via video conference.
Tuesday: Iran's Ebrahim Raisi inaugurated as president in Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei's office
Wednesday: A quiet day in politics.
Thursday: Chinese State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi hosts the first meeting of the international forum on COVID-19 vaccine cooperation via video link.
Friday: Turkmenistan's President Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and their Azerbaijani counterpart Ilham Aliyev meet in the Turkmen city of Avaza, Hiroshima commemorations are held for the 76th anniversary of 1945 atomic bomb attacks.
Saturday&Sunday: Quiet days in politics.