Iran highlighted its “constructive approach” to conclude talks on the revival of the 2015 nuclear deal in its latest views sent to the European Union coordinator on Thursday.
“The sent text has a constructive approach with the aim of finalizing the negotiations,” Foreign Ministry Spokesman Nasser Kanaani said, ISNA reported.
The United States responded to an EU draft of a roadmap to restore the 2015 deal as well as Iran’s further amendments last week.
Tehran said its review of the US response would last until at least the end of the week.
“After receiving the US response, the Islamic Republic’s expert team scrutinized it and after assessment at various levels, Iran’s answer was set out and submitted to the coordinator late on Thursday,” Kanaani said.
The deal, known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, offered sanctions relief to Tehran in return for curbs on its nuclear program, but the US exited the accord in 2018 and reimposed sweeping sanctions that prompted Tehran to row back on its commitments.
Negotiations have been underway for more than a year to work out how both sides can resume compliance. After a months-long stalemate, the EU finally put forward a new draft which is now going back and forth between the two sides.
“Iran has responded as promised. It’s time for the Biden team to make a serious decision,” Mohammad Marandi, a media adviser to Iran’s top nuclear negotiator, said in a tweet.
The US confirmed that it had received Iran’s response, but said that its initial assessment was that it was not encouraging.
“We are studying Iran’s response, but the bottom line is that it is not at all encouraging,” a senior Biden administration official told Politico on Thursday evening.
The official declined to give specifics, but added that “based on their answer, we appear to be moving backwards.”
A European diplomat agreed with this negative assessment and said that the Iranian response looked “negative and not reasonable.” Another person familiar with the situation simply added that the Iranian reply did “not look good at all.”
US State Department spokesman Vedant Patel said, “We are studying it and will respond through the EU, but unfortunately it is not constructive.”
Marandi noted that for the US, “constructive” usually means accepting US terms, while for Iran, it means a deal that is balanced and protected.
“If the US makes the right decision, an agreement can be swiftly concluded,” he said.
Stronger Guarantees
The White House noted some gaps had narrowed in recent weeks, but others remain.
The final differences chiefly concern Iran’s demand for guarantees of effective sanctions lifting and continued adherence by the US, as well as the conclusion of a probe by the International Atomic Energy Agency into traces of nuclear material allegedly found at certain undeclared Iranian sites.
The US has so far said it is unable to give assurance that a future government would not abandon the JCPOA, since the deal is a political understanding rather than a legally binding treaty.
It has also argued that it is up to Iran to cooperate with the IAEA to conclude the safeguards investigations and Washington would not put any pressure on the agency in this regard.
Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian had said in earlier remarks that “we need stronger guarantees from the other party to have a sustainable deal.”
Iran is concerned that even if a deal is revived, foreign firms will still consider it too risky to invest there, especially if a future US president once again walks away from the agreement.
Speaking on Wednesday at a joint news conference with his Russian counterpart in Moscow, Amir-Abdollahian also reiterated the need for the conclusion of the safeguards issue.
“The agency should close this case... Such politically motivated demands are unacceptable for Iran,” Amir-Abdollahian said.
