The American Secretary of State referred to the nuclear agreement with Iran during a meeting with his British counterpart • Blinken claimed that the Iranians rejected the various proposals that were forwarded to them and “missed an opportunity” • According to him, returning to the action plan “has not been on the agenda as a practical matter for many months” • Blinken added that The focus of the Biden administration has shifted to the widespread protests in Iran and the war in Ukraine
US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken said last night (Tuesday) that Iran rejected the opportunity to return to the nuclear agreement with the US months ago. Blinken reiterated that a new agreement is no longer a top priority for the Biden administration, noting that the US has the agreement of Russia, China and the other original signatories of the 2015 agreement, which President Donald Trump abandoned in 2018 – but Iran was reluctant to sign it.
“The Iranians missed the opportunity to return to this agreement many months ago,” said last night in Lincoln at a press conference in Washington alongside the British Foreign Minister, James Calverley. “There was an opportunity on the table that they rejected, an opportunity that was approved by all those involved.”
A return to the plan of action presented in 2015, in which Iran agreed to restrictions on its nuclear program in exchange for sanctions relief, “has not been on the agenda as a practical matter for many months,” Blinken said. Now, the American administration is focusing on the Iranian government’s violent response to the protests, in addition to the supply of Iranian weapons to Russia for its invasion of Ukraine. “These actions will have consequences,” added Blinken, who held the joint press conference with Calverly at the State Department.
Despite the freezing of the talks in September, about a month ago the Iranian Foreign Minister met Hossein Amir Abdelhian in Jordan with Joseph Borrell, the European Union’s foreign minister, and with Enrique Mora, Borrell’s deputy and EU representative for the nuclear talks with Iran. Although in October the US emphasized that the nuclear talks were not on the American “priority” at that time, the European Union repeatedly emphasized that efforts for their existence should be continued.