US nuclear statement: Unconstructive

Iran has conveyed its response to the US views on the draft nuclear deal. The US State Department described Iran’s response to proposals for reviving the 2015 nuclear agreement as “not constructive.” Iran has conveyed its views in response to the US response to the draft agreement text submitted by the European Union (EU) to revive the nuclear agreement and accepted as the final roadmap in the negotiations. Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Nasser Kenani explained in a written statement that the US response to the draft agreement text was examined by Tehran at various levels and that the prepared response had been sent to the coordinator of the negotiations. Kenani said, “The text that was sent has a constructive approach with the aim of concluding the negotiations.” US State Department Deputy Spokesperson Vedant Patel said in a written statement on the issue, “We can confirm that we have received Iran’s response. We are reviewing it and will respond, but unfortunately, it is not constructive.” The nuclear deal and negotiation process with Iran An agreement was signed in 2015 between Iran and the permanent members of the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) – the US, Russia, China, the UK, France and Germany (5+1) – under which Tehran’s nuclear activities were regulated and monitored in exchange for the lifting of sanctions. When Washington unilaterally withdrew from the agreement in 2018 during the term of former President Donald Trump and re-imposed sanctions on Iran, Tehran gradually halted its commitments under the agreement and took a series of steps, including re-enriching high-level uranium. The negotiations that have been held in Vienna since April 2021 under the coordination of the European Union (EU) to ensure the re-implementation of the agreement and the US’s return to the agreement concluded on August 8, and following the draft agreement text presented by the EU, which assumed the role of coordinator of the negotiations, the parties gave much more positive signals about reaching a final agreement compared to previous months. Iran conveyed its views on the draft agreement submitted by the EU and accepted as the final roadmap in the nuclear negotiations to the EU on August 15. The Coordinator of the Negotiations and EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Josep Borrell described Iran’s response as “reasonable.” The US also sent its response regarding Iran’s views on August 24. Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir Abdullahiyan said on August 31 that they wanted the lifting of sanctions for the nuclear deal and stronger assurances that the US would not withdraw from the deal again.