US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Monday evening that a new nuclear deal between Iran and the US is ‘unlikely’ any time soon in light of Tehran’s response to an EU proposal on the revival of the agreement.
Speaking at a press conference in Mexico city, Blinken called Iran’s latest remarks on the deal “a step backward.”
“What we have seen over the last week or so in Iran’s response to the proposal put forward by the European Union is clearly a step backward and makes prospects for an agreement in the near-term, I would say, unlikely,” Blinken said, stressing that Washington was “not about to agree to a deal that doesn’t meet our bottom-line requirements.”
Iran has demanded that the International Atomic Energy Agency, suspend its investigations into possible violations of the JCPOA as a condition to return to the talks.
Earlier this week, Germany, Britain and France said they had “serious doubts” about Iran’s intentions to revive the nuclear deal. Tehran in response called these comments “unconstructive” and accused European powers of taking a “step in the path of the Zionist regime to defeat the negotiations.”
Israeli officials have been opposing the deal with Prime Minister Yair Lapid saying on Sunday that diplomatic efforts aimed at convincing the US to halt the agreement are proving successful.
Defense Minister Benny Gantz told the ambassadors of UN security council member states that the Iranians have trippled their capacity to enrich uranium at the Fordow facility - a violation of the nuclear deal, and called on the security council to take operative actions to block Tehran's nuclear ambitions.