Iran’s Foreign Minister, Hossein Amir-Abdollahian, claimed on Thursday that his country is ready to reach a lasting agreement with world powers and blamed the latest failure to revive the 2015 nuclear deal on an allegedly “unrealistic vision” by the United States.
Speaking during a visit to Beirut and quoted by The Associated Press, Amir-Abdollahian urged the US to stop “wasting time.”
“We believe that if there is a realistic American vision in dealing with the situation, we will very soon see the birth of this nuclear deal,” he said. Asked about the main obstacles, he said “some matters are still pending and they are related to lifting the unjust sanctions” imposed on Iran.
“We believe that the United States should move on the right track instead of wasting time,” said Amir-Abdollahian, without elaborating. “We are ready to reach a strong, good and lasting agreement as long it does not cross the Islamic Republic of Iran’s red lines.”
Iran has gradually scaled back its compliance with the 2015 deal it signed with world powers, in response to former US President Donald Trump’s withdrawal from the agreement in May of 2018, but has held several rounds of indirect talks with the US on a return to the agreement.
Negotiations nearly reached completion earlier this month before Moscow demanded that its trade with Iran be exempted from Western sanctions over Ukraine, throwing the process into disarray. Negotiators have yet to reconvene in the Austrian capital.
US State Department spokesman Ned Price said on Tuesday that Washington has a "Plan B" if a nuclear deal with Iran is not reached.
"The onus is on Tehran to make decisions that it might consider difficult," Price told reporters.
"In fact we are preparing equally for scenarios with and without a mutual return to full implementation of the JCPOA," he added, referring to the formal name of the 2015 deal, the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action.