State Department spokesperson Ned Price told reporters during a press briefing that Special Envoy for Iran Robert Malley will lead the US delegation to Vienna, where the parties to the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) will convene today, Xinhua reported.
He claimed the United States and Iran will hold in-direct talks over respective steps to revive the nuclear deal.
"Our goal of these talks in Vienna is to set the stage for that mutual return to compliance," Price claimed. "We don't anticipate an early or immediate breakthrough as these discussions we fully expect will be difficult."
"The original formulation is one that still holds today," he noted. "It's the limited lifting of sanctions, nuclear sanctions, in return for permanent and verifiable limits on Iran's nuclear program."
He acknowledged that the United States is approaching the talks with Iran "with urgency" as Tehran continued to take steps away from the deal. "We are not seeking to drag these talks on any longer than necessary come about, we're also not going to cut corners, given the profound stakes that are at play here."
This is while Iran has dismissed any direct or indirect talks with the US during the Vienna meeting.
Senior officials from Iran, France, Britain, Germany, Russia and China will attend the JCPOA Joint Commission later today in what appears to be the first serious push to reinvigorate the deal since January 20, when Joe Biden was sworn in as the new president of the United States.
Biden’s predecessor, Donald Trump, adopted a policy of “maximum pressure” against Tehran after the withdrawal in 2018, escalating tensions with Iran and drawing strong criticism from the other signatories of the accord.
Iran was patient for one year. But with no palpable shift in circumstances, Tehran began a gradual process of reducing its nuclear undertakings. The decision was taken as Iran’s right under Article 36 of the JCPOA.
MNA/PR
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