Blinken: Time for a deal with Iran has become 'very, very short'

The US Secretary of State said he could not set a deadline for nuclear talks, but the window of opportunity for an agreement with Iran was very short. US Special Representative for Iran Robert Malley also warned that time was running out for negotiations.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken told reporters at a press conference that he did not intend to set a time limit on the remaining window of opportunity, but that the window of opportunity to reach an agreement had become “very, very, very short.”

According to Blinken, revitalizing the JCPOA is becoming increasingly difficult with the progress Iran makes every day in its nuclear program.

The US Secretary of State also warned that Iran will not be allowed to continue developing its nuclear program by prolonging negotiations.

Blinken emphasized that if an agreement is not reached, the United States will seek other options.

American officials have repeatedly expressed concern about the progress of Iran's nuclear program and have said that the Islamic Republic of Iran is moving closer to building a nuclear weapon.

Iran insists it is pursuing a peaceful nuclear program, but Western powers say the country's enriched uranium reserves go beyond a peaceful nuclear program and could be used to produce nuclear weapons.

In early June of this year, Anthony Blinken told members of the US House of Representatives Foreign Affairs Committee that the nuclear deal had reduced the time necessary to potentially build a nuclear weapon to more than a year, but Iran has reduced this time in recent months by using advanced centrifuges and enriching uranium to concentrations of 20 and 60 percent. According to Blinken, this time is at best a few months, and if this situation continues, it will be a few weeks.

Robert Malley: We only have a few weeks.

Robert Malley, the US State Department's special representative for Iran, also said in an interview with CNN that there are only "a few weeks" left until Iran, with its current nuclear activities, reaches a point where the JCPOA no longer exists.

Mali added: "In the not too distant future, we must conclude that the JCPOA no longer exists and negotiate a completely different agreement and leave the period of escalation behind us."

In this interview, Mali warned of the end of time for negotiations and the risk of a "severe crisis."

The US special envoy for Iran is indirectly participating in the negotiations to revive the JCPOA.

The seventh round of negotiations to revive the JCPOA resumed in Vienna on Monday, November 29, after a five-month hiatus with Iran, with the participation of members of the 4+1 group and the European Union, as well as a delegation from Iran.

The talks were suspended again two weeks later (December 16) at Iran's request.

Iran has not announced an exact date for returning to the JCPOA meeting after the end of the seventh round of nuclear talks in Vienna, but the Russian representative has said that the talks will resume on December 27 at the expert level or January 3, 2022.

Source: DW