The Islamic Republic of Iran has rejected nuclear talks with the United States.
The Biden
administration had proposed the talks as part of its efforts to negotiate a
path back to the 2015 nuclear deal that was abandoned by Trump in 2018 paving
the way to waves of economic sanctions on the country.
But even with a less
hostile US administration now in power, Iran says it will not sit down for
talks, for now.
A spokesman for Iran’s
Foreign Ministry said on Sunday that conditions are not ripe for informal nuclear
talks between Iran, the U.S. and other world powers.
“There has been no
change in the U.S. position and behavior yet, and the Biden administration has
not only not abandoned Trump's failed policy of maximum pressure, but has not
even announced its commitment to fulfilling its overall commitments as part of
the nuclear deal," said Iranian spokesman, Saeed Khatibzadeh.
He added Iran won't
re-negotiate the nuclear deal and reiterated Iran's longstanding insistence
that the U.S. start the process by removing sanctions.
The US reacting to
Iran's statement said;
"While we are
disappointed at Iran’s response, we remain ready to reengage in meaningful
diplomacy to achieve a mutual return to compliance with the nuclear deal
commitments," a White House spokesman said.
"We will be
consulting with our P5+1 partners on the best way forward," the spokesman
added, referring to the other parties to the nuclear deal: China, Russia, the
U.K., France and Germany.
The Iranian response to the U.S. proposal
seems to be connected to a diplomatic effort by the U.S. and European
signatories to pass a resolution against Iran at an upcoming meeting of the
International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).
The resolution is
expected to criticize Iran for curtailing the access of nuclear inspectors to
Iran's nuclear facilities.
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