Washington will be forced to put pressure on Iranian authorities if Tehran delays talks in Vienna on restoring the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) on Iran’s nuclear programme, US State Department Special Representative for Iran Robert Malley said
“If Iran thinks they can use this time to get additional leverage and then come back to the negotiating table and say they want better terms, it won’t work. Our partners and I will not go for that”, – he said.
Malley suggested that Tehran might be stalling the dialogue, using this time to pursue its nuclear programme. The State Department spokesman said the United States would then be forced to increase pressure on Iran.
“We hope it doesn’t come to that, but if it does, the pressure will have to be increased, showing Iran that the path it has chosen is wrong. It has the opportunity to choose another path, but it will not be open forever because the nuclear programme undermines the very essence of the deal reached”, – he summarised.
Recall that from April to June 2021 six rounds of talks were held in Vienna between the JCPOA member states (Iran, Russia, UK, Germany, China, France) and the US on restoring the Iranian nuclear agreement in its original version. The sides later took a pause, which was prolonged due to the election of the Iranian president and the formation of a new leadership of the country. Talks are expected to continue on 29 November.