Washington warns that Tehran will not allow talks to continue

The United States on Saturday accused Iran of blocking talks to defend the Iran nuclear deal and warned that the approach was “unacceptable” – without reducing it.

A senior official who took part in the resumption of talks in Vienna told reporters that the 2015 anti-nuclear deal “failed to show the attitude of a country that is seriously considering a speedy return.”

The US observation matches the European negotiators.

These indirect talks between Washington and Tehran resumed on Monday, beginning in April, before being halted in June following the election of a new radical conservative Iranian president. They are held by the European Union, which coordinates the implementation of the text, and its other signatories are Germany, France, the United Kingdom, Russia and China.

According to this US official, despite the United States’ “patience” over the past five months, the Islamic Republic “prepared” to resume dialogue, the latter actually “continuing to accelerate its nuclear program. Provocative method”.

When she finally returned to Vienna, she was “with proposals to return to all the compromises proposed by Iran from April to June, to benefit from all the compromises made by others and especially the United States, and to demand more and more.” He lamented.

“While Iran is dragging its feet in its nuclear diplomacy, we cannot accept the situation in which Iran is accelerating its nuclear program,” the official reiterated, reiterating US Secretary of State Anthony Blingen’s warning.

– “Other tools” –

More than ever, Washington seems to be on the verge of leaving the talks and says it is preparing for a “situation where it is no longer possible” to save the deal.

However, the official assured that the decision to cut off the dialogue and implement Plan B, which would plunge the region into severe turmoil, has not yet been made.

On the contrary, he said he hoped Tehran would return to talks soon – although the date had not yet been set by the European co-ordinator – probably “ready to negotiate firmly” by the middle of next week.

The agreement at the heart of all these efforts, presented six years ago as historically significant, imposed strict limits on Iran’s nuclear program to ensure that it remained civilian and peaceful under the close watch of international analysts. In return, Iran benefited from the lifting of tough sanctions that crippled its economy.

Under President Donald Trump, who saw this compromise as flawed and inadequate, Washington withdrew from it in 2018 and re-established its sanctions against Tehran, in response to which it gradually liberated itself from restrictions on its nuclear program.

Incumbent US President Joe Biden has said he is ready to return to the deal if Iran returns to its promises.

But his spring optimism has led to increasingly open disbelief. The US government has been warning since the beginning of autumn that it is ready to seek “other options” if diplomacy fails, leaving the threat of seeking military power. .

On Saturday, a senior U.S. official once again realized that “other tools” were at his disposal, although diplomacy was the preferred route of the Biden administration.

If Iran does not come to the line, “we will have to resort to other tools and equipment you can imagine to increase the pressure on Iran,” he began without further details.