French President Emmanuel Macron said on Friday that the fate of a revived nuclear deal is up to Iran, and that an agreement would be "useful" even if it doesn't settle everything.
"Now the ball is in Iran's court," Macron told reporters, as quoted by the AFP news agency.
Asked about the chances of success in reviving the 2015 agreement between Tehran and world powers, Macron declined to speculate.
"I think that it's an agreement, if it is concluded in the terms which are presented today, which is useful," he said, adding that the draft being discussed now is "better than no agreement."
"But it's also a deal which does not settle everything. We know that," continued Macron, referring to Iran's regional role and "destabilization" efforts.
His comments come as the sides appear to be making progress on reviving the 2015 nuclear deal, from which former US President Donald Trump withdrew in 2018.
Last week, Iran sent its proposals over the final draft sent on August 8 by the EU, which has coordinated talks in Vienna on reviving the pact.
The proposal, submitted on July 26 by EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell, has been described by the EU as a “final draft” of the agreement.
On Wednesday, Iran confirmed it had received a response from the United States to its proposals on the EU draft, saying it is “carefully reviewing the US opinions”.
US State Department spokesperson Ned Price on Monday expressed some optimism about the prospects of salvaging the Iran nuclear deal, but stressed that divisions remain between the United States and Iran.
“A deal is closer now than it was two weeks ago, but the outcome of these ongoing discussions still remains uncertain as gaps do remain,” Ned Price said at a State Department briefing, according to CNN.
(Israel National News' North American desk is keeping you updated until the start of Shabbat in New York. The time posted automatically on all Israel National News articles, however, is Israeli time.)