#delay #nuclear #talks #Iran
Washington on Monday dismissed suggestions that it was delaying a possible deal to revive the Iran nuclear deal after a “final” draft was circulated, but said questions remained.
“The notion that we have in any way delayed these negotiations is simply not true,” State Department spokesman Ned Price said.
After the EU sent the proposed text to both Tehran and Washington in late July, Iran responded “with multiple comments,” Price said without being specific.
“As such, we took some additional time to review these comments and finalize our own response,” he said.
“We are seriously considering these comments.”
Earlier Monday, EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell, who is leading efforts to bring the United States and Iran to an agreement, suggested Washington was now slowing down the process.
“There was an Iranian response that I thought prudent to convey to the United States,” he said.
“The United States has not yet officially responded. But we are waiting for their answer and I hope that this answer will allow us to conclude the negotiations – I hope so, but I cannot assure you.”
Price said Washington was “encouraged” by the fact that Tehran appears to have dropped an earlier demand that the United States de-designate the Islamic Republican Guard Corps as an international terrorist organization in order to finalize a deal.
This was one of the issues that appears to have held back progress on a final agreement outlined in March.
However, Price added, “There are still some outstanding issues that need to be resolved, some gaps that need to be bridged if we are able to get there.”
“We are working to put together an appropriate response to the Iranian newspaper as soon as possible,” he said.
Iran and major world powers agreed in 2015 to limit Tehran’s nuclear program to prevent Tehran from acquiring nuclear weapons.
But in 2018 US President Donald Trump, a harsh critic of the so-called Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), unilaterally withdrew and imposed tougher sanctions on Iran.
Since then, Iran has accelerated its nuclear research and development activities and has come closer to building a nuclear bomb.
Since taking office in January 2021, US President Joe Biden has pushed for a revival of the JCPOA in exchange for an easing of sanctions on Iran.
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