“We have not concluded an understanding,” said Vedant Patel, the Principal Deputy Spokesperson for the US Department of State in a press briefing on Tuesday on the latest developments of the Vienna talks.
"The situation remains the same as I briefed you yesterday. We received Iran’s comments on the EU’s proposed final text through the EU, and we have responded to the EU on Wednesday, August 24th," he added, saying, "Now it is up for Iran to answer."
Earlier, the Israeli regime’s minister of war Benny Gantz commented on the conclusion of the nuclear agreement between the US and Iran, claiming that the initiative will be useless because it will not stop Tehran from implementing its nuclear weapons program.
Iran and the remaining parties to the JCPOA -- Russia, China, France, Britain, and Germany -- had held several rounds of negotiations in the Austrian capital of Vienna since April last year to restore the agreement, which was abandoned by the former US President Donald Trump in May 2018.
In quitting the agreement, Trump restored sanctions on Iran as part of what he called the “maximum pressure” campaign against the country. Those sanctions are being enforced to this day by the Joe Biden administration, even though it has repeatedly acknowledged that the policy has been a mistake and a failure.
Despite notable progress, the US indecisiveness and procrastination caused multiple interruptions in the marathon talks.
Four days of intense talks between representatives of Iran and the five remaining parties to the JCPOA ended on August 8 with a modified text proposed by the EU on the table.
Iran submitted its response to the EU draft proposal on August 15, a week after the latest round of talks wrapped up. After submitting its response, Tehran urged Washington to show "realism and flexibility" in order to reach an agreement.
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