Negotiations aimed at reviving the nuclear agreement have been completed, and it is now up to Iran to decide whether they're going to take that deal or not, announced a US official.
NSC Coordinator for Strategic Communications John Kirby stressed that the US administration remains committed to seeing Iran never achieve a nuclear weapons capability, reiterating the White House's position that diplomacy is the best path forward to see that outcome.
Speaking at a press briefing, Kirby said that President Joe Biden has an obligation to "make sure if he can look after our national security interests in the region, make sure that we have the capability and the capacity to do that — to defend ourselves and to help defend our allies and partners against the range of other Iranian threatening behavior: their burgeoning ballistic missile capability, which continues to improve; their support for terrorist groups; their threats in the maritime environment."
Reuters quoted a French presidency official saying there is still time to save the 2015 Iran nuclear deal, but the ball remains in Tehran's court.
EU foreign policy chief, Josep Borrell, announced Tuesday that he proposed a new draft text to revive the 2015 Iran nuclear deal, saying there is no room left for further significant compromises.
Iran's Foreign Minister Hossein Amir Abdollahian told Borrell over the phone that Iran "welcomes the continuation of diplomacy and negotiations."
Abdollahian reiterated that if the US moves realistically toward finding a solution and reaching a deal, a good agreement will be at hand for all parties,
Revival of the agreement seemed imminent last March, but the talks stalled due to last-minute Russian and Iranian demands to remove the Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) from a US list of foreign terrorist organizations.
Washington says Tehran added demands unrelated to the discussions about its nuclear program and has made worrying progress in its uranium enrichment program.
The US administration made clear that it has no plans to remove the IRGC from the list, a move that will likely have limited impact, but it will anger a lot of US lawmakers.
Western officials say that the longer Iran delays reviving the deal and continues to produce enriched uranium, the more difficult it will be to restore the deal to curb nuclear proliferation.
EU's attempt at "proximity talks" failed last month in Doha, Qatar.
Axios news website reported that the White House Middle East coordinator, Brett McGurk, believes it is "highly unlikely" to revive the 2015 nuclear agreement soon.
The website quoted three sources as saying that McGurk told a group of think tank experts "that the reason there is no nuclear deal is that the Iranians are unable to make a decision."
According to Axios, McGurk said his theory is that Iran wants the US "to add something to the pot" to help those who want a deal in the internal debate with Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, but "we are not going to do that."
McGurk said the Biden administration intends to use sanctions and diplomatic isolation against Iran, "but not needlessly escalate the situation," and use force only as a last resort, according to the three sources.
He said the divergence of views with Israel isn't about the issue of a possible military strike but about whether the US should still try to revive the 2015 nuclear deal or shift to pushing for a "longer and stronger" deal.
Meanwhile, the US special envoy to Iran, Robert Malley, discussed with Omani Foreign Minister Badr al-Busaidi, diplomatic efforts to revive the nuclear agreement, according to the Omani Foreign Ministry.
The Ministry said in a tweet that the two officials discussed various issues in common and the efforts to resume the nuclear agreement.
