April 16, 2012. Diplomats face an uphill battle against time and precedent as they look toward the next round of talks with Iran on its nuclear program. The negotiators broke a 15-month stalemate after 10 hours of "constructive" talks in Istanbul on April 14 and agreed to reconvene in Baghdad May 23. In Israel, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu criticized the outcome as giving Iran more time to continue enriching uranium, the process capable of producing fuel for a nuclear bomb. Squeezed by U.S. and EU sanctions, as well as Israeli and American threats of a military strike to prevent it from acquiring atomic weapons, Iran dropped upfront demands and the talks focused almost exclusively on its nuclear program. The negotiations risk a repeat of previous failures, as tensions contribute to a 13 percent jump in Brent crude prices. The process that led to next month's talks in the Iraqi capital mirrors those on December 2010 in Geneva, where the parties agreed to reconvene the following month in Istanbul. The January 2011 gathering in Turkey broke down without agreement after Iran set pre-conditions including recognition of its right to enrich uranium and the lifting of sanctions to resume talks.