US: Will Not Let Iran Hinder Pace of Nuclear Talks

By Al Mayadeen
Source: Agencies
5 Dec 2021 00:10
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The United States ignores all Iranian efforts to return to the nuclear deal and accuses Tehran of trying to "slow walk" the nuclear talks.

Deputy Secretary-General of the European External Action Service (EEAS) Enrique Mora and Iran's chief nuclear negotiator Ali Bagheri Kani wait for the start of a meeting of the JCPOA Joint Commission in Vienna, Austria November 29, 2021 (Credit: Reuters)

Washington warned Saturday that it would not allow Iran to "slow walk" the Vienna talks aimed at reviving the Iran nuclear deal, an agreement between Iran and major powers over Tehran's nuclear program.

The warning came a day after the United States alleged that Iran was not serious about going back to the nuclear agreement, overlooking all Israeli attempts to undermine the talks despite not being part of them.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken cited Friday Iran's "lack of seriousness" as the reason behind the latest round of Vienna talks ending.

Washington will pursue other options if diplomacy fails, Blinken asserted.

"We can't accept a situation in which Iran accelerates its nuclear program and slow walks its nuclear diplomacy," said a senior US administration official.

The official said Washington was not yet planning to abandon the talks that restarted with Tehran last week in Vienna. However, the US hoped Iran would return "with a serious attitude" in the next round of talks.

The original JCPOA was broken by Trump

The United States had been subject to Israeli pressures to abandon the talks. Israeli occupation Prime Minister Naftali Bennett urged Thursday the United States to halt the nuclear talks, accusing Tehran of "nuclear blackmail".

The seventh round of nuclear talks ended Friday after five days in Vienna and a five-month hiatus, and the next round will kick off in Austria next week.

The Vienna talks are taking place to bring back to life the 2015 JCPOA, which had been broken by the United States when it withdrew under former President Donald Trump in 2018.

Since then, Tehran had constantly been calling on Washington to return to its obligations under the deal. Both the Trump and Biden administrations ignored those calls.

Iran has constantly been asserting that its nuclear program was peaceful as the US accuses it of trying to hinder the talks in an attempt to "further develop" said nuclear program.