Earlier, the suggestion of an informal meeting was made by Enrique Mora, deputy secretary-general of the EU foreign policy service
The United States has been in one way or another consulting with all sides in potential talks on Iran’s nuclear program involving the other P5+1 countries (Russia, Britain, China, France and Germany) and Iran itself, but so far there is no clear evidence that Tehran would agree to such a meeting. A State Department spokesman told a news briefing on Thursday.
“We have consulted in general terms with all parties. I will not go into detail as to who exactly we have spoken to, but I have to say that no, we have no evidence that Iran will agree to a meeting”, – he admitted. The text of the briefing was circulated by the press service of the US Foreign Ministry.
He specified that Enrique Mora, Deputy Secretary General of the EU External Action Service, had earlier suggested holding an informal meeting in this format on his Twitter account.
However, the State Department spokesperson stressed that a meeting was necessary for both sides to return to the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA).
“If they [Iran] believe that this can happen simply by the two sides taking steps separately from each other, I think that is unrealistic. <…> it’s hard to see how this can be done without coming to the negotiating table”, – he stressed.
The American diplomat also admitted that Washington is ready to discuss virtually any proposal during the negotiations. He was asked, in particular, whether it was possible to discuss a loan to Iran from the IMF or other ways to give it short-term loans, as well as exemptions from the sanctions regime.
“Nothing is ruled out in that regard. We want to sit down at the negotiating table and see what we can work out together, together with the other participants in the five-plus-one format”, – he replied.
State Department spokesman Ned Price told TASS on Thursday that the United States would be willing to take part in talks with Iran and other participants in the five plus one format (Russia, Britain, China, France and Germany) on the Iranian nuclear programme at the invitation of the European Union.