State Department spokesman Ned Price said that following nearly a year of negotiations, “the responsibility lies with Tehran to make decisions that it may consider difficult. There are a number of difficult issues that we are trying to find solutions to.”
“An agreement of this kind is neither imminent nor certain, which is exactly why we are preparing during the year for any eventuality,” Price noted. “There are a number of difficult issues that we are still trying to resolve.”
Without giving further details, Price said that Washington has long been discussing “alternatives” with its partners in the Middle East and Europe, stressing US President Joe Biden’s commitment to preventing Iran from acquiring a nuclear bomb, whether with or without an agreement with Tehran.
This statement represents a clear change in the tone of the United States.
In early March, following 11 months of complex negotiations, it seemed almost imminent to reach an agreement in Vienna between the great powers and Iran to revive this agreement, which is supposed to prevent Iran from obtaining the atomic bomb.
However, the negotiations were hampered by new conditions set by Russia in connection with the sanctions imposed by the West in response to its operation in Ukraine. As soon as the Russian demands were achieved, this obstacle was removed, and the road seemed almost straight to reach an agreement to the extent that Washington said less than a week ago that it was “close” to achieving a breakthrough. .
The negotiators hope to conclude the Vienna negotiations following the Nowruz holiday, the Persian New Year celebrated by Iranians on Sunday.
The administration of former US President Donald Trump unilaterally withdrew from the agreement in 2018, but Democratic President Joe Biden, who succeeded Trump in 2020, his desire to return to the agreement, provided that Tehran returns to comply with all the commitments it retracted in the wake of Washington’s withdrawal from it.
In April 2021 in Vienna, the two sides began indirect negotiations to reactivate the agreement, with the participation of the parties who are still affiliated with it (France, Britain, Germany, Russia and China).
