SULAIMANI (ESTA) — The United States said on Monday it expected indirect talks with Iran about both sides resuming compliance with the 2015 Iran nuclear deal to be difficult.
Iran and the United States said on Friday they would hold indirect talks in Vienna from Tuesday as part of a wider effort to revive the nuclear deal between Tehran and global powers, formally called the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA).
The U.S. State Department has said the focus of the Vienna talks will be on “the nuclear steps that Iran would need to take in order to return to compliance” with the nuclear accord, according to Reuters.
Spokesman of U.S. State Department Ned Price said the United States did not expect any face-to-face bilateral discussions “at present” but remained open to the possibility, Reuters reported.
“We don’t underestimate the scale of the challenges ahead,” Price told reporters at his daily briefing. “These are early days. We don’t anticipate an early or immediate breakthrough as these discussions, we fully expect, will be difficult.”
U.S. Special Envoy for Iran Rob Malley, a veteran of the Clinton and Obama administrations, will lead the American delegation to the talks, he added.
Tehran has ruled out face-to-face talks with the United States.
Former president Donald Trump pulled the United States out of the nuclear pact in 2018 and reimposed sanctions on Iran, prompting Tehran to breach some of the accord’s nuclear restrictions.
Trump’s successor Joe Biden wants to revive the agreement but Washington and Tehran have been at odds over who should take the first step.
Iran, China, Russia, France, Germany and Britain – all parties to the 2015 deal – held virtual talks on Friday to discuss the possible return of the United States to the accord.
