The United States and Iran both sounded pessimistic on Thursday about the chances of reviving the 2015 Iran nuclear deal, with Washington saying it had little cause for optimism and Tehran questioning the determination of US and European negotiators.
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"I have to tell you, recent moves, recent rhetoric, don't give us a lot of cause for ... optimism," US Secretary of State Antony Blinken told reporters in Stockholm, saying he could judge in a day or so if Iran would engage in good faith.
Blinken made the comments after Iran provided the European powers who are shuttling between US and Iranian officials in Vienna with drafts on sanctions removal and nuclear commitments, as world powers and Tehran seek to reinstate the tattered pact.
"We went to Vienna with serious determination, but we are not optimistic about the will and the intention of the United States and the three European parties to the deal," Iranian foreign minister Hossein Amirabdollahian was quoted by Iranian media as saying in a telephone conversation with his Japanese counterpart.
While Blinken said "it is not too late for Iran to reverse course and engage meaningfully," it appeared as if both sides might be seeking to avoid the blame if the talks break down.
Iran has provided European powers involved in nuclear talks currently taking place in Vienna with drafts on sanctions removal and nuclear commitments, Iran's top nuclear negotiator said on Thursday, as world powers and Tehran try to reinstate the pact.
The announcement came on the fourth day of indirect talks between Iran and the United States on bringing both fully back into the deal. The talks resumed after a five-month hiatus prompted by Iran's election of Ebrahim Raisi – an anti-Western hardliner – as president.
"We have delivered two proposed drafts to them...Of course they need to check the texts that we have provided to them. If they are ready to continue the talks, we are in Vienna to continue the talks," Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister Ali Bagheri Kani told reporters.
Under the pact, Tehran limited its uranium enrichment program, a potential pathway to nuclear weapons though Iran says it seeks only civilian atomic energy, in exchange for relief from US, European Union and Unites Nations economic sanctions.
But in 2018, then-US President Donald Trump abandoned the deal, calling it too soft on Iran, and reimposed harsh sanctions, spurring Tehran to breach nuclear limits in the pact.
A senior European diplomat estimated on Tuesday that 70-80% of a draft deal on salvaging the 2015 accord was completed when Iran and world powers last met in June, though it remained unclear whether Tehran would resume talks where they left off.
While Bagheri Kani had said everything negotiated during six rounds of talks between April and June was open for discussion, a member of Iran's delegation said "elements in the previous unapproved draft that were in conflict with the nuclear deal were revised and gaps were filled" in Iran's submitted drafts.
The International Atomic Energy Agency said on Wednesday Iran had started the process of refining uranium to up to 20% purity with one cascade, or cluster, of 166 advanced IR-6 machines at Fordo.
"What Iran can't do is sustain the status quo of building their nuclear program while dragging their feet on talks. That will not happen," Blinken told reporters in Stockholm in a possible reference to that development.
It was unclear whether Blinken had been briefed on the latest proposals by the Iranians when he made his comments.
Senior British, French and German diplomats, a group known as the E3, told reporters that this week would be key to determining whether Iran was serious about reviving the pact, though they also did not want to impose artificial deadlines.
"The next 48 hours will be quite important to know and to confirm that hopefully we can pick up there and get into very intensive working mode," one diplomat said. "If they don't show us that they're serious this week, then we have a problem."
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