US Official: Nuclear Deal Closer Than Before

A senior American official said an agreement on the revival of the 2015 nuclear deal is now “closer than it was two weeks ago.”
The official pointed out, however, that the outcome remains uncertain as some gaps still remain between Iran and the United States.
“[US] President [Joe] Biden will only approve a deal that meets our national security interests,” the source said, CNN reported.
Another senior US administration official said progress from this point forward could be slow, “but there does seem to be more momentum now than there has been in the past year.”
The United States pulled out of the 2015 deal four years ago and reimposed tough sanctions that prompted Tehran to row back on its commitments.
Negotiations began in April 2021 in Vienna, Austria, to work out how both sides can resume compliance with the deal, known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action.
The talks reached a months-long stalemate until the European Union coordinator put forward a new initiative early this month to break the impasse. 
After discussions in Vienna, delegations returned to their capitals for further consultations on the new text. 
Iran submitted its response late on Monday which was delivered to the EU and through the coordinator to the US.
The answer was not a yes or no, but gave several requests mainly on the issue of getting more guarantees if the US were to again leave the agreement.
Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian said if the US answer proves to respect Iran’s red lines, Vienna talks will enter a new phase. 
Washington has been reviewing the EU draft and Iran’s answers for the past week and has been privately conveying feedback to the Europeans, but has not yet officially responded.
“As we do in the Biden administration, we’re doing our homework,” a senior US administration official said. “We’re consulting with our experts in the interagency. And when we have a response prepared, we’ll send it back.”

Maintained Policy

According to the US official, the issue of removing the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps from the US list of terrorist organizations has not been mentioned in the Iranian response.
The US had consistently rejected such a demand.
The elite military force was designated by former president Donald Trump as part of a “maximum pressure campaign” imposed after withdrawing the US form the JCPOA.
The policy is one of several foreign policy decisions made by Trump that Biden has maintained.
The Biden administration has also continued to impose new sanctions on Iran as talks over the nuclear deal have worn on.
While the US does feel one major obstacle has been removed, there are still some other sticking points. Those include Tehran’s desire for a guarantee that it will be compensated if a future US president pulls out of the deal.
Iran also demands the closure of a probe by the International Atomic Energy Agency into particles allegedly found on old undeclared sites.
The Biden administration’s position on those issues has not changed, according to the officials. 
Iran still has to explain to the IAEA about uranium traces and the US has also made clear to Iran that it cannot bind future administrations to the deal, nor promise compensation should a US president ever withdraw, the officials said.