Reuters: Iran said on Thursday itsaw no point reviving a 2015 nuclear pact without guarantees the United States would not withdraw again and unless UN inspectors close probes of Tehran’s atomic program, a stance a US official rejected as “unreasonable.”
Signaling failure of attempts at the United Nations General Assembly to overcome an impasse, Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi said: “What is the use of having a revived deal without assuring guarantees that the US will not violate again?”
After a meeting with Raisi on Tuesday, French President Emmanuel Macron said that “the ball on reaching a nuclear deal with Iran is now in Tehran’s camp”.
But Raisi, in a televised news conference, blamed the deal’s European parties and the United States for failure to revive it. “How can we have a lasting agreement if these probes are not closed? We can have a good deal if Americans and Europeans fulfill their commitments.”
In addition to seeking guarantees, the Islamic Republic wants the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), the UN’s nuclear watchdog, to drop its years-long probes of unexplained traces of uranium found at three undeclared sites in Iran.
Speaking to reporters, a senior US State Department official rejected putting pressure on the IAEA to close those investigations unless Iran provides satisfactory answers.
“In a nutshell, we’ve hit a wall because of Iran’s position and I think their position is so unreasonable in terms of what they’re asking for with regards to the IAEA probe into the unexplained presence of traces of uranium particles,” he said.