Senior Iranian official: 'West pretending to come up with initiatives'

A senior Iranian security official said on Sunday that progress in talks to salvage the 2015 nuclear deal was becoming "more difficult" and accused Western powers of "pretending" to come up with initiatives.

"The work of Iranian negotiators towards progress is becoming more difficult every moment ... while Western parties 'pretend' to come up with initiatives to avoid their commitments," Ali Shamkhani, secretary of Iran's Supreme National Security Council, said on Twitter, according to Reuters.