New Talks – United States and Iran Revive Nuclear Agreement Negotiations Once Again

A US official confirmed that Washington was in talks and communication with Iran about the moribund nuclear deal talks late Monday night, but denied that discussions about reaching an interim agreement were taking place.

The comments, reported by Reuters international news agency, came hours after Iran apparently acknowledged reports of talks and the Foreign Ministry thanked Oman for its role as a mediator between the two rivals.

US-Iranian negotiation

According to the international agency, the U.S. official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said Washington reached out to Iran to warn it about actions it could face in combat or vice versa to help facilitate more productive negotiations.

“There are no talks on an interim agreement,” the U.S. official said.

“We explained to them what steps they need to take to avoid a crisis and what steps of appeasement they can take to create a more positive context,” he said.

Israeli accusations

According to IAEA, in recent weeks Israeli officials have accused the US and Iran of using indirect talks to reach a temporary nuclear deal that would allow Tehran to continue uranium enrichment, as a recent report by a Tel Aviv-based journalist at the US newspaper Axios revealed the indirect talks’ Israeli allegations.

However, the Haaretz daily on Tuesday quoted a senior Israeli official as saying: Tel Aviv is worried that Washington plans to reach understandings with Tehran, but not formalize them in an agreement, in part so that they don’t have to bring them to Congress for a vote.

Biden administration officials denied this, telling Haaretz: “The president has stepped up through Congress and is working with Congress more than most presidents, and the idea that he will try to bypass it is not really indicative of the administration’s behavior.”

The US comment was the first time the United States confirmed contact with Iran since indirect talks on a new deal broke down nearly a year ago. Last week, the White House denied progress on a new nuclear deal, but did not comment on whether there were talks or not.

The U.S. official declined to elaborate on the steps Iran was told to avoid or encourage, but noted that Washington seeks greater cooperation between Tehran and the IAEA.