SULAIMANI (ESTA) — The United States on Wednesday said U.S. Special Envoy for Iran Robert Malley will be heading the U.S. delegation in Iran nuclear talks which will resume on November 29 and said Washington hoped that Tehran returns to talks ready to negotiate and in good faith.
Speaking at a news briefing, State Department spokesperson Ned Price said Washington still believed that it remains possible to quickly reach and implement an understanding on a mutual return to compliance with the JCPOA.
In April, Iran and six powers started talks in Vienna to reinstate the deal, which then-U.S. President Donald Trump ditched three years ago before reimposing sanctions that have crippled Iran’s economy. However, the talks were put on hold after Iran’s presidential election in June that brought anti-Western hardliner Ebrahim Raisi to power.
Earlier on Wednesday, the head of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council said negotiations to revive Iran’s 2015 nuclear agreement with world powers will fail unless U.S. President Joe Biden can guarantee that Washington will not again abandon the pact.
“The U.S. President, lacking authority, is not ready to give guarantees. If the current status quo continues, the result of negotiations is clear,” Ali Shamkhani said in a tweet.
A main disagreement in Vienna has been over Iran’s requirement for the United States to give guarantees that it would not renege on the nuclear agreement in the future.
The United States and European powers have urged Iran to return to negotiations, warning that time is running out as the Islamic Republic’s uranium enrichment programme is advancing well beyond the limits set by the nuclear pact.
In reaction to Trump’s reimposition of sanctions, Tehran breached the deal by rebuilding stockpiles of enriched uranium, refining it to higher fissile purity and installing advanced centrifuges to speed up output.
