WASHINGTON (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 01st March, 2021) Washington is disappointed with Iran's refusal to meet for face-to-face talks on the nuclear deal, but will work toward mutual compliance with the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), a senior US administration official told Sputnik.
"While we are disappointed at Iran's response, we remain ready to reengage in meaningful diplomacy to achieve a mutual return to compliance with JCPOA commitments. We will be consulting with our P5+1 partners on the best way forward," the official said.
The Wall Street Journal reported on Sunday, citing two senior Western diplomats, that Iran rejected the EU offer to have direct nuclear talks with the US just yet, seeking guarantees that Washington will remove sanctions after the meeting.
In 2015, Iran signed the JCPOA with the P5+1 group of countries (the United States, China, France, Russia, the United Kingdom - plus Germany) and the European Union. It required Iran to scale back its nuclear program and severely downgrade its uranium reserves in exchange for sanctions relief, including lifting the arms embargo five years after the deal's adoption. In 2018, the US abandoned its conciliatory stance on Iran, withdrawing from the JCPOA and implementing hard-line policies against Tehran, prompting Iran to largely abandon its obligations under the accord.
In December, Iran passed a law to increase its uranium enrichment and stop UN inspections of its nuclear sites in response to the killing of nuclear physicist Mohsen Fakhrizadeh. At the start of January, Iran's atomic energy organization announced that the country had succeeded in enriching uranium at 20 percent at the Fordow Fuel Enrichment Plant.
Earlier this month, Iran's restrictions on inspections of the country's nuclear facilities by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) entered into force. Tehran will still continue to fully implement the Safeguards Agreement with the IAEA, according to a joint statement from the IAEA and the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran (AEOI) said.
