Calling on the United States to show flexibility to resolve three remaining issues, Iran’s foreign minister said Tehran will respond to the European Union’s “final” draft text to save a 2015 nuclear deal by midnight on Monday.
A senior EU official said on August 8 that it had laid down a “final” offer and expected a response within a “very, very few weeks.” This came after 16 months of fitful, indirect US-Iranian talks, with the EU mediating between the parties.
Iranian negotiators said Tehran’s “additional views and considerations” to the EU text would be conveyed later, while Washington has said it is ready to quickly seal a deal to restore the 2015 accord on the basis of the EU proposals.
Suggesting Tehran’s response would not be a final acceptance or rejection of the EU proposal, Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian said, “Our answer will be given to the EU tonight at 12 midnight…There are three issues that if resolved, we can reach an agreement in the coming days.”
“The coming days are very important” to see whether the United States will show flexibility over the remaining three issues, Amir-Abdollahian expressed.
Spurring Iran to begin breaching its limits on uranium enrichment under the nuclear deal, former US President Donald Trump reneged on the deal reached before he took office, calling it too soft on Iran, and reimposed harsh US sanctions.
After 11 months of indirect talks between Tehran and US President Joe Biden’s administration in Vienna, the 2015 agreement appeared on the verge of revival in March.
However, due to obstacles including Tehran’s demand that Washington provides guarantees that no US President would abandon the deal as Trump did, the talks broke down.
