Iran Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Says US Has to Take Decision to Revive Nuclear Deal

The Iranian flag waves in front of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) headquarters in Vienna, Austria, March 1, 2021. (Reuters)
The Iranian flag waves in front of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) headquarters in Vienna, Austria, March 1, 2021. (Reuters)
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Iran Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Says US Has to Take Decision to Revive Nuclear Deal

The Iranian flag waves in front of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) headquarters in Vienna, Austria, March 1, 2021. (Reuters)
The Iranian flag waves in front of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) headquarters in Vienna, Austria, March 1, 2021. (Reuters)

The United States needs to make a decision to revive the Iran nuclear deal, Tehran's Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Saeed Khatibzadeh said on Monday.

Talks to revive the 2015 Iran nuclear pact face the prospect of collapse after a last-minute Russian demand forced world powers to pause negotiations for an undetermined time despite having a largely completed text.

"We are currently having a breather from the nuclear talks," said Khatibzadeh.

"We are not at a point of announcing an agreement now since there are some important open issues that need to be decided upon by Washington."

"As soon as we receive their decisions, we will be able to return to Vienna and reach a final agreement."

Tensions have been rising since Iran attacked Iraq's northern city of Erbil on Sunday with a dozen ballistic missiles in an unprecedented assault on the capital of the autonomous Iraqi Kurdish region that appeared to target the United States and its allies.

Iranian state media said Iran's Revolutionary Guards Corps carried out the attack against Israeli "strategic centers" in Erbil, suggesting it was revenge for recent Israeli air strikes that killed Iranian military personnel in Syria.



Former Iranian Minister Calls for Iranian Control over Strait of Hormuz

Oil tankers pass through the Strait of Hormuz, December 21, 2018. REUTERS/Hamad I Mohammed/File Photo
Oil tankers pass through the Strait of Hormuz, December 21, 2018. REUTERS/Hamad I Mohammed/File Photo
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Former Iranian Minister Calls for Iranian Control over Strait of Hormuz

Oil tankers pass through the Strait of Hormuz, December 21, 2018. REUTERS/Hamad I Mohammed/File Photo
Oil tankers pass through the Strait of Hormuz, December 21, 2018. REUTERS/Hamad I Mohammed/File Photo

Former Iranian Economy Minister Ehsan Khandouzi has said that tankers and LNG cargoes should only transit the Strait of Hormuz with Iranian permission and this policy should be carried out from "tomorrow for a hundred days."

It was not immediately clear whether Khandouzi was echoing a plan under the Iranian establishment's consideration or sharing his personal opinion, according to Reuters.

Tehran has long used the threat of blocking the narrow waterway as a means to ward off Western pressure, without acting on its threats. The stakes have risen since Israel launched an air war on Iran last week after concluding the latter was on the verge of developing a nuclear weapon. Iran maintains its nuclear programme is purely for civilian purposes.

"This policy [of controlling maritime transit in the Strait]is decisive if implemented on time. Any delay in carrying it out means prolonging war inside the country," Khandouzi posted on X on Tuesday.

Khandouzi was economy minister until the summer of last year in the cabinet of late President Ebrahim Raisi and remains close to the Iranian establishment's hardliners.

About 20% of the world’s daily oil consumption — around 18 million barrels — passes through the Strait of Hormuz, which is only about 33 km (21 miles) wide at its narrowest point.