The United States and Iran have both expressed pessimism about relaunching the 2015 nuclear deal, but Washington was still hopeful the deal could be revitalized, saying on Thursday that it was ” not too late ”for Tehran to“ reverse ”.

“I have to tell you,” said US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, “recent measures, recent rhetoric, don’t give us much reason to be optimistic”.

The time to revive the case is running out

“But even if the time is very late, it is not too late for Iran to backtrack” to salvage the deal to curb Tehran’s nuclear capabilities in exchange for easing sanctions from Washington, he added.

“In the very near future, around the next day or so, we will be able to judge whether Iran really intends to engage in good faith,” Blinken said.

The senior American diplomat drew up a gloomy record on the sidelines of a meeting of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), which is currently being held in Stockholm.

The Iran nuclear deal, officially known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), has been on life support since former President Donald Trump announced the United States was withdrawing from the deal in 2018.

Pessimism at the Vienna talks

In a telephone interview with Blinken on Thursday, Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett called for an “immediate end” to talks between Iran and the big powers in Vienna, which resumed Monday after a five-month hiatus.

His comments came on the fourth day of indirect US-Iran talks in the Austrian capital aimed at bringing the two nations back on board.

Iran has also expressed pessimism about the likelihood of bringing the deal to life.

“We went to Vienna with serious determination, but we are not optimistic about the will and intention of the United States and the three European parties to the agreement,” Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdollahian said , quoted by Iranian media.

The agreement, concluded in 2015, also includes the United Kingdom, France, China, Russia and Germany, as well as the United States and the European Union.

jsi / sms (AFP, Reuters)