TEHRAN -- Iran has sent a
“constructive” response to U.S. proposals aimed at reviving the 2015 nuclear deal with world powers, Iran’s Foreign Ministry said.
“The text that was sent (by Iran) has a constructive approach aimed at finalizing the negotiations,” Foreign Ministry spokesperson Nasser Kanaani was quoted as saying by state broadcaster IRIB on Friday.
But the U.S. State Department gave a different assessment.
“We can confirm that we have received Iran’s response through the EU,” a spokesperson said. “We are studying it and will respond through the EU, but unfortunately it is not constructive.”
White House National Security Council spokesperson Adrienne Watson said: “Some gaps have closed in recent weeks but others remain.”
The IRIB report said Iran’s response was sent to EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell, who has been coordinating the negotiations. It gave no further details.
After 16 months of indirect talks between Tehran and Washington, Borrell said on Aug. 8 the EU had laid down a final offer to overcome an impasse for the revival of the agreement.
Iran needs stronger guarantees from Washington for the revival of a 2015 nuclear deal, its foreign minister said on Wednesday, adding that the UN atomic agency should drop its “politically motivated probes” of Tehran’s nuclear work.
Under the 2015 pact, Iran had curbed its nuclear program in return for relief from U.S., EU and UN sanctions.
Then U.S. President Donald Trump reneged on the deal in 2018, arguing that it was too generous to Tehran. He reimposed U.S. sanctions on Iran, leading Tehran to scale down its compliance with the agreement.
Foreign Minister Hussein Amir-Abdollahian said Friday Iran has taken into account acceleration and facilitation of finalizing the talks.
In a phone conversation with his Omani counterpart Sayyid Badr Albusaidi, the top diplomat reiterated Iran’s determination to clinch “a good, sustainable, and strong agreement.”
The Omani minister praised Iran’s “active and constructive” approach, hoping that the talks on the revival of the nuclear deal would yield a satisfying outcome.
On Thursday, 50 U.S. House members sent a letter to President Joe Biden, urging him to submit the full text of any potential agreement before signing it.
Led by Congressman Josh Gottheimer, 34 Democrats and 16 Republicans, signed the letter which repeats baseless allegations against
Iran’s nuclear program and defense capabilities.
According to Middle East Eye, several of the Democrats who signed the letter have received significant campaign contributions from AIPAC and its array of pro-Israel PACs.
AIPAC had circulated a memo throughout Congress over the past several days that included several points that matched the letter, celebrated the effort and Gottheimer’s leading role.
Reports said the head of the Mossad spy agency is set to travel to Washington in early September to hold closed-door meetings in Congress, hoping to further disrupt the nuclear deal with Iran.
Amir-Abdollahian said on Wednesday Iran needs “stronger guarantees” from the American side to clinch an agreement.