US dismisses Iran proposals on nuclear agreement

The US has dismissed Iran’s proposals to revive the 2015 nuclear agreement. State department spokesman Vedant Patel, while confirming that the US is studying Iran’s comments, described proposed changes to the text drawn up by the European Union as “not constructive”. All sides are trying to come up with a deal that will lift sanctions on Iran’s economy in return for the reinstatement of limits on Tehran’s nuclear programme.

EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell had considered Iran’s response to his final text as reasonable, but following the latest US submission, he said Iran continues to suggest “adjustments”.

On Wednesday, Mr Borrell predicted agreement could be reached in the “coming days”. However, Iran’s foreign minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian said Tehran wanted stronger guarantees to prevent — or compensate for — a second US withdrawal from the agreement.

He also insisted the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) drop its “politically motivated” demand for Iran to explain uranium traces found at undeclared sites related to early weapons research. In October 2003, Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Khamenei ruled that weapons of mass destruction are forbidden under Islamic law. The US found no evidence such research continued beyond that year.

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Former US president Donald Trump abandoned the deal in 2018 and imposed 1,500 sanctions on Iran. Tehran abided by its terms for a year in the expectation other signatories — Britain, France, Germany, China and Russia — would find ways to evade sanctions. When they failed, Tehran began gradually exceeding limits by enriching and stockpiling uranium from the specified 3.67 per cent to 20 and 60 per cent, and by curbing IAEA inspections.

While president Joe Biden promised to re-enter the deal, he called for changes when negotiations opened in 2021. Talks have lasted 17 months in a game of proposal and counter-proposal. Meanwhile, Mr Biden has added fresh sanctions and Iran has advanced rapidly towards the nuclear “breakout” point of enriching uranium to 90 per cent purity. Although experts say this is the level used for making bombs, constructing such devices could take two years.

Mr Biden and Ayatollah Khamenei, who both backed the original deal, are under strong pressure to renew it. While a Data for Progress poll shows more than two-thirds of US voters favour re-entry, Mr Biden faces opposition from lawmakers, lobbyists, and Israeli prime minister Yair Lapid. Last week, Israel’s foreign intelligence chief David Barnea called the deal “very bad for Israel” and said it has “begun preparations for a military strike against Iran if such action is deemed necessary.”

The final arbiter of Iranian policy, the Ayatollah, faces opposition from hardliners over the deal. An former Iranian official told the Middle East Monitor website that Iran defends guarantees because it “will be a massive embarrassment for the Supreme Leader if Washington pulls out of the deal again”.