The United States is now preparing equally for both a scenario where there is a mutual return to compliance with Iran on a nuclear deal, as well as one in which there is not an agreement, State Department spokesperson Ned Price said on Wednesday, according to Reuters.
"Because a mutual return to compliance with the JCPOA is very much an uncertain proposition, we are now preparing equally for either scenario," Price was quoted as having said in a briefing.
Iran has gradually scaled back its compliance with the 2015 deal, 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 in March before Moscow demanded that its trade with Iran be exempted from Western sanctions over Ukraine, throwing the process into disarray.
The deal has also run into trouble in recent weeks over Iranian demands that the US lift its designation of Iran’s elite Revolutionary Guards (IRGC) as a terrorist organization.
A recent report indicated that the Biden administration is considering removing terrorism sanctions from the IRGC as part of negotiations to restore the 2015 Iran nuclear deal.
However, a subsequent report in The Washington Post said that the Biden administration plans to reject the Iranian demand.
Price recently appeared to dismiss the Iranian demand regarding the IRGC blacklisting.
"If Iran wants sanctions lifting that goes beyond the JCPOA, they'll need to address concerns of ours that go beyond the JCPOA," Price said when asked about the issue.