Another round of nuclear talks between Iran and the UN Security Council plus Germany began on Friday.

The Wall Street Journal reported that U.S. and European officials headed into the two-day negotiations with increasing confidence that sanctions and covert actions are taking its toll on Iran’s nuclear program.

The U.S. and Israel were recently credited for conducting a cyberattack on Iran’s nuclear facility in Natanz that rendered many of the centrifuges necessary to enrich the uranium inoperable. Although both countries neither deny nor confirm their involvement, the New York Times reported that the virus was tested in Israel.

Despite Iran’s recent setbacks, however, expectations for any major breakthroughs during the negotiations are low. Tehran remains defiant toward the UN Security Council and continues to work toward its goal of becoming a nuclear nation. A senior official in the Iranian delegation stated Iran would “not allow any talks linked to freezing or suspending of Iran’s enrichment activities to be discussed at the meeting in Istanbul.”

Besides setting the agenda of the talks, Iran scored another victory by setting the location of the talks in Istanbul—highlighting Iran’s strengthened position in the region.

According to the Wall Street Journal,

In Lebanon, Tehran’s close ally Hezbollah, the militant political party, forced the collapse of the pro-Western government last week, over a dispute tied to a UN investigation of the murder of the country’s former prime minister, Rafik Hariri. Efforts by Washington’s allies in Saudi Arabia and France to mediate the crisis have fizzled. Iran’s diplomatic allies—Turkey, Qatar and Syria—are increasingly filling the diplomatic space. Iran has also seen its political allies in Iraq and Afghanistan strengthened.

Hezbollah showed its own position of strength on Tuesday when, according to the Jerusalem Post, “Hezbollah members and allied parties carried out a two-hour exercise early on Tuesday morning at 12 different strategic points in Beirut, meant to show a potential first response to the commission findings surrounding the assassination of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri.”

Sources close to Hezbollah reported the drill was “a real exercise to test the readiness of any such plan to take over Beirut and its periphery, including entries, the port, waters, and the airport.”

In other news from the region, Lebanon has submitted a draft resolution to the UN, on behalf of the Palestinians, asking for the Security Council to condemn Israeli settlements.

The bold move disregards a U.S. plea for the PA to withhold presenting the proposal to the Security Council. “The Americans don’t want us to present anything to the Security Council,” chief plo negotiator Saeb Erekat said. “But we made it clear to them that, for us, the Security Council was a gate to international legitimacy.”

This stealthy maneuver by the Palestinian Authority further exposes its unwillingness to conduct serious negotiations with Israel. Historically, the UN has never been a great ally to Israel, and has in many instances been a willing instrument in the hands of Palestinians and other anti-Israel states seeking to undermine, marginalize and persecute the Jewish state. Based on its track record, it wouldn’t be surprising if the UN once again casts aside objectivity and sides with those seeking Israel’s destruction.

Moreover, the blatant disregard of Washington’s request reveals the eroding influence of America’s diplomacy in effecting any progress in the peace process.