Blinken: Iran's opportunity for JCPOA negotiations is ending

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken warned about the protracted nature of the JCPOA revival talks, saying, “The JCPOA ball is in Iran’s court” and that time is running out. No specific date has been set for the resumption of the JCPOA talks in Vienna.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken warned on Thursday, September 29, that "the Islamic Republic's time to return to the nuclear deal is running out, the responsibilities have fallen on Iran's shoulders, and the JCPOA ball is now in Iran's court."

Blinken told reporters on the sidelines of US-EU trade talks in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, that US President Joe Biden is keen to return the United States to the 2015 agreement, in which Iran sharply reduced its nuclear activities in exchange for economic promises.

Former US President Donald Trump imposed extensive sanctions against the Islamic Republic following his unilateral withdrawal from the JCPOA.

Iran also gradually withdrew from its commitments under the JCPOA, including the deployment of more advanced centrifuges and the increase in its stockpile of enriched uranium.

Iran wants sanctions lifted, but the US government has demanded that the Islamic Republic fulfill its commitments under the JCPOA.

Blinken told reporters that returning to the terms of the JCPOA would not be sufficient in some cases to reap the benefits of the agreement due to the progress and development of Iran's nuclear program.

This is not the first time that the US Secretary of State has warned about the delay in the JCPOA negotiations and the development of Iran's nuclear program, which has become an "insoluble obstacle."

The European Troika (Britain, France, and Germany), the United States, and even Chinese and Russian officials have criticized the delay in the JCPOA revival talks in Vienna.

Blinken emphasized that the Biden administration has been participating in good faith in indirect negotiations in Vienna with Iran for months on returning to JCPOA commitments, but the opportunity to return to the JCPOA is not unlimited.

The Vienna talks, known as the "JCPOA revival" talks, have been suspended since the end of Hassan Rouhani's administration and have not yet resumed despite the coming to power of Ebrahim Raisi.

No date set for resumption of JCPOA revival talks  

Iranian officials have announced that they will return to talks. Ebrahim Raisi recently said that the Islamic Republic is “seeking results-oriented negotiations and the lifting of sanctions.”

However, a date has not yet been set for the resumption of negotiations to revive the JCPOA in Vienna.

Blinken noted that he could not set a specific date for the possible US withdrawal from the negotiation process, but he could clearly say that reaching this point is steadily getting closer.

The prolonged delay in returning to the Vienna talks has heightened the concerns of Western countries, as Iran has simultaneously intensified its nuclear activities by delaying the date of the talks.

European Union foreign policy chief Josep Borrell said at a press conference in Doha on Thursday, September 29 (October 29), that nuclear talks with Iran would begin within an "acceptable timeframe."

Iranian officials are giving vague answers about when the JCPOA revival talks will resume and are not setting a date for these talks.

"We won't waste a minute returning to Vienna."

Saeed Khatibzadeh, spokesman for the Islamic Republic's Ministry of Foreign Affairs, said in an interview with the French newspaper Le Monde that the Raisi administration will decide in the next few weeks on when to return to talks.

"I think in a few weeks we will be in a position to meet our friends in Europe and we will not waste a minute going back to Vienna," he added.

A spokesman for the Iranian Foreign Ministry told Le Monde that the new Iranian government will return to the negotiating table faster than the Joe Biden administration did after taking office in the United States.

Negotiations to revive the JCPOA resumed in Vienna on April 6, 77 days after Joe Biden took office on January 20. It has now been 50 days since the new Iranian government took office.

Source: DW