The US declared it would “not sit idly by” if the Iranian regime delays talks on its nuclear program

The United States “will not sit idly by” if Iran delays a return to the nuclear deal in talks to resume next week in Vienna.US Special Envoy Rob Malley said.

“If they start getting too close, too close to the idea of ​​being comfortable, of course we’re not ready to sit idly by,” the negotiator told National Public Radio (NPR) in excerpts released Tuesday.

Iran will return to talks with world powers in Vienna on Monday after a five-month hiatus following the election of ultra-conservative President Ibrahim Raisi.

The talks came after the head of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) returned from a visit to Iran, reporting a lack of progress in negotiations on disputes over the country’s nuclear program.

Democratic President Joe Biden’s government began talks earlier this year. US expected to return to 2015 nuclear deal, However, he has so far failed to reach an understanding with the Iranian regime.

“We are ready to return to the agreement and remove all restrictions inconsistent with the agreement. So if Iran wants to go back on the deal, it has a way of doing it.”Male noted.

“If you don’t want to go back on the deal, if you continue to do what you are doing now, that is dragging your feet on the diplomatic table and accelerating your pace when it comes to your nuclear program.” If he chooses this path, then we will have to respond accordingly,” the diplomat said.

The talks are taking place indirectly, with the EU envoy between Male and the Iranian delegation refusing to meet face-to-face with the US representative.

For his part, the Director General of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), Rafael Grossi regrets the “lack of agreement” with the Iranian regime on his return from Tehran on Wednesday, at a time when the expansion of its nuclear program worries the international community.

“Negotiations were constructive, but despite all our efforts, we could not reach an agreement”Grossi told reporters.

After several weeks of “silence” which the person in charge described as “astonishing”, Grossi hopes to make some progress on a somewhat difficult topic, “But clearly not, we haven’t been able to move forward,” he admitted.

The IAEA is concerned about the Iranian regime’s ban of inspections since last February, which “severely hinders” verification operationsAccording to a recent report.

Another pending issue is the location of the four undeclared locations where nuclear material has been recorded.

There are also concerns about the treatment reserved for IAEA inspectors because some have been subjected to “extremely aggressive searches by Iranian security agents,” according to the organization.

Grossi said each country is committed by law to “protect the authorities from any form of intimidation”. “But our Iranian allies,” arguing for security reasons, “He introduced a series of measures that are clearly incompatible with this”“she added.

“The issue has come to the fore and I hope such incidents will not happen again,” he said.

Along with other senior officials in Tehran, Grossi met mohammed islamic, who heads the Iranian Atomic Energy Organization.

Grossi acknowledged that seeing how the talks progressed, he decided to cancel Tuesday’s press conference at Vienna airport upon his return from Iran.

“We are getting closer to the point where I will not be able to guarantee knowledge” about the status of the Iranian nuclear program., recognized the head of the United Nations Nuclear Agency.

For his part, the Iranian Foreign Minister, Hussein Amir Abdulahian, confirmed that it is still possible for Iran to reach an agreement with the United Nations nuclear agency to fully reactivate international inspections that monitor that Tehran does not develop nuclear weapons .

“A settlement is possible,” Abdollahian said on his Twitter account.

The head of Iranian diplomacy assured that Had a “cordial, frank and helpful” conversation with Grossick, on his visit to Tehran tomorrow. “I reached good agreements to continue cooperation. However, in order to issue a text (joint communique), we have to work on words,” Abdollahian said.

The minister said there would be another meeting with the IAEA ‘soon’ to finalize the text.

Grossi’s visit comes a week before talks resume in Vienna To save the international agreement on this Iranian nuclear program, which have been suspended since last June.

The 2015 agreement between the Iranian regime on the one hand and the United States, the United Kingdom, China, Russia, France and Germany on the other was meant for Tehran to lift some of the international sanctions that had suffocated its economy. Exchange to drastically reduce its nuclear program, which was placed under strict UN control.

But the United States abandoned the agreement in 2018 under President Donald Trump and reimposed its sanctions. As a result, Tehran has gradually abandoned its commitments.

Negotiations were disrupted in June following the election victory of the now-Iranian president, ultra-conservative Ebrahim Raisi, who demands that the United States lift all sanctions against his country.

In a recent report, The IAEA highlights that Iran is producing enriched uranium with a much higher purity than the 2015 agreement., which limits that country’s nuclear program to prevent it from becoming nuclear weapons.

In addition, the IAEA also criticizes that it has not received any answers about the nature of radioactive traces of artificial origin in at least three facilities that Iran declared not related to its nuclear program.

With information from AFP and EFE

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