The indirect talks will resume in Vienna next week to continue the process of determining the steps the United States and Iran must each take to comply with the agreement, which the Trump administration abandoned in 2018.
This official reiterated that the United States is prepared to lift sanctions that are “inconsistent” with the 2015 agreement and with the benefits that Iran expects from the agreement if Iran complies with compliance again – a position they recognize , is likely to face strong opposition in Congress.
“We know how strong the opposition will be – some people who were opposed to the JCPOA in 2015 and ’16 and who were withdrawing and who are now against any attempts to come back are against,” the official said. , which uses the abbreviation for the agreement formally known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action.
But they stressed that this was “just the first step of the first phase of a possible return to” the nuclear deal, arguing that America had not become safer to leave the deal.
At this week’s indirect talks, the official said that the US and Iranian delegations were not in direct contact with each other, but that they were exchanging views with world powers officials who are still part of the agreement. Their discussions were focused on defining ‘a common set of steps’ that Iran and the United States could take, and ‘if and when’ they come closer to a general understanding of these steps, they will likely discuss sequence.
“The American team has put forward a very serious, very serious idea, a seriousness of aim to reconcile if Iran reconciles,” they said on Friday. “Overall, the discussions were productive, it was businesslike, the atmosphere was very constructive.”
“At the same time, there remains a question as to whether Iran’s seriousness of purpose and intent to reconcile what the US has shown will be reciprocated,” they continued. “I would say, you know, we’ve seen some signs of it, but certainly not enough.”
Iranian officials have insisted that the US lift all Trump-era sanctions and return to the nuclear deal before re-enacting it.
The senior State Department official said such views were being questioned as to whether Tehran really intends to comply with the terms of the agreement again – conditions that have increasingly broken it.
“The question mark has to do with … the repeated statements by Iran that all sanctions imposed since 2017 should be lifted, and this is not in line with the agreement itself, because under the agreement, the US retains the right to impose sanctions on non-core causes, whether terrorism or human rights violations or interference with our election, etc. “
“We have made this clear in public. We have indirectly made it clear to the Iranians that we are of the opinion that any sanctions that are contrary to the JCPOA and contrary to the benefit that Iran expects from the JCPOA, we are prepared to lift them. charge if Iran comes back to its obligations, “the official said.
However, the official also accused the Trump administration of “going out of its way to make it difficult for a successor administration to rejoin the JCPOA,” noting that they had layered sanctions by applying new terrorist sanctions. on entities already sanctioned on core grounds. . As a result, it is a ‘complicated process’ to determine what sanctions you should take, the official explained.
‘Infinitely easier than we had direct conversations’
The official noted that ‘it would be infinitely easier if we had direct talks with Iran’, but added that ‘if it’s not bad … it’s going to be a lot harder for them to get what they say they want have, which is a return, mutual return, to fulfillment. ‘
Saeed Khatibzadeh, spokeswoman for Iran’s Foreign Ministry, told CNN’s Christiane Amanpour on Friday that no direct talks are needed before the US rejoins the 2015 agreement.
The senior State Department official noted that Saturday is a ‘nuclear day’ in Iran, which is traditionally ‘the day Iran made an announcement on nuclear power’.
‘Depending on the announcements, it could also be a sign that they are approaching these talks in a constructive spirit and accepting the fact that the US has shown serious seriousness of purpose, or that they are going to take a different path. would raise more questions about their intentions, ‘the official said. “I think so we will have to see what happens, what will happen tomorrow to get a further clue – that will probably not be a definitive answer – but a further clue in the thinking of Iran.”
The official also noted that the US delegation in Vienna had detained and missing the issue of Americans in Iran.
“And we have lifted it just as forcefully as ever just to make sure Iran understands that … is a priority,” they said. “It’s separate from the core discussions, but it’s something we will not forget and that we will continue to increase with Iran.”
Iran is currently holding U.S. citizens Siamak and Baquer Namazi, Morad Tahbaz and Emad Sharghi in custody and has not accounted for the plight of Robert Levinson.