The U.S. considers Iran’s response in the talks to revive the 2015 nuclear accord to be “not constructive,” the State Department said Thursday night.
Vedant Patel, a department spokesperson, did not elaborate but added that U.S. officials were still looking at the response, which Iran had submitted to the European Union. The E.U. has drafted a proposal to rescue the agreement, abandoned by former President Donald Trump in 2018.
“We are studying it and will respond through the E.U., but unfortunately it is not constructive,” Patel said in a statement.
An Iranian foreign ministry spokesman earlier called the text “constructive.”
The previous exchange of comments on the E.U. proposal had spurred optimism, as Washington said Tehran had dropped “extraneous demands.”
The goal of the negotiations is to come up with a deal that reinstates limits on Tehran’s rapidly advancing nuclear program in exchange for lifting U.S. sanctions on Iran’s economy.
The talks are being closely watched by oil and gas traders — and politicians around the world facing a public backlash as high energy prices have sent inflation spiraling. At the same time, the Biden administration has sent signals that it will take a tough stance on Iran even as it pursues a restored agreement, which is opposed by Republicans and some Democrats in Congress.
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