In the nuclear dispute with Tehran, the US government has confirmed its willingness to hold talks with the Iranian side. Washington is still ready to enter into a “significant” diplomatic exchange in order to facilitate a mutual return to the obligations under the 2015 nuclear agreement, US State Department spokesman Ned Price said on Monday. “We are not dogmatic about the form and format of these conversations,” he added.
Price spoke out a day after the Iranian government rejected an EU proposal for an informal meeting between Tehran and Washington to revive the nuclear deal. The US must first lift its sanctions against Iran, said the Foreign Ministry in Tehran on Sunday. The US government reacted “disappointed”.
Price stressed on Monday that Washington’s willingness to meet with Iranian officials had not changed. The US government is only “dogmatic” with regard to the goal that “Iran must not be allowed to come into possession of a nuclear weapon”.
The Foreign Office said on Monday that the German government had taken note of Iran’s “preliminary rejection” for an informal meeting. “We are in talks with all parties and are working together with France and Great Britain to ensure that constructive talks between the current JCPoA participants and the USA come about,” it said. JCPoA is the official abbreviation for the Vienna Nuclear Agreement of 2015, which aims to prevent Iran from building nuclear weapons.
Former US President Donald Trump terminated the agreement in 2018 and imposed new sanctions on Iran, which are severely affecting the country’s economy. Since then, Tehran has gradually withdrawn from its obligations under the agreement.
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