A Biden State Department official said Washington was ready to return immediately to the Vienna talks, but evidence showed that Iran’s chief negotiating team would not accept the framework of the Vienna talks.
“Obviously we paid attention to what was being said,” the official said, according to the State Department website, referring to a keynote address to the UN General Assembly. What we are looking for more is practical action, not rhetoric that includes expressing the Iranians’ willingness to re-engage in the Vienna talks in the coming weeks. We also considered the State Department statement on a possible timeline for returning to the talks. We still believe that we should be back in the Vienna consultations as soon as possible.
The US official continued: “As the Secretary of State has said, we believe that a reciprocal return to adherence to the IAEA is in our national interest and will verify and prevent Iran from acquiring a nuclear weapon.” But the opportunity for this is not permanent. As time goes on, JCPOA benefits diminish as Iran continues to operate its advanced centrifuges and nuclear activities, which have been banned under the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty.
He also said: “The US Secretary of State has the opportunity this week to consult with some of his counterparts on behalf of the UN Security Council, and we are waiting to see what Iran actually does to return to the Vienna talks.”
“Washington does not have a timetable for rejoining the talks, but our position is that we are ready to return,” a State Department official told the Washington Post about the resumption of Nuclear talks in Vienna. But if this situation persists, it will not be possible to finally resume negotiations because Iran’s nuclear progress will be irreversible and a return to the deal will not be possible.
He added that former Iranian officials had said that the new government was in talks with Vienna and had assured Western diplomats that consultations would resume in a few weeks, but that the new negotiating team had not announced a date for the resumption of talks.
“But when we look at what the new officials and the media are saying, we see that the new team will probably not accept the previously negotiated framework, the same framework that we are negotiating prior to June 20,” he said.
