Blinken: No New Nuclear Agreement with Iran on the Table

Antony Blinken, the U.S. Secretary of State, stated on Wednesday that there is no new nuclear agreement with Iran on the table. Speaking at the Council on Foreign Relations in New York, Blinken said, 'While we remain willing to find diplomatic pathways, no agreement is in sight.' He remarked on future U.S.-Iran relations, stating that Washington judges the Islamic Republic of Iran based on its actions. He urged Iran not to take any actions that would 'further escalate tensions.' Joe Biden, the U.S. President, came to power with hopes of returning to the JCPOA agreement that Donald Trump had abandoned. However, nuclear negotiations mediated by the European Union have failed, and widespread protests and crackdowns in Iran following the death of Mahsa Amini in 'morality police' custody have increasingly made Washington hesitant to reach an agreement with the ruling clerics in Iran. Nevertheless, diplomats say that indirect negotiations have quietly resumed in recent months, mediated by Oman and focusing more on the status of American prisoners in Iran. Blinken stated that the Biden administration made 'good faith efforts' with European powers as well as its rivals, China and Russia, to return to the JCPOA, and for a time 'this seemed possible.' He added, 'Iran either could not or did not want to do what was necessary to return to the commitments required.' Blinken, who visited Saudi Arabia earlier in June, also mentioned that both Saudi Arabia and Israel are interested in the prospect of normalizing their bilateral relations, but this is extraordinarily difficult and not something that will happen overnight. This report used information from the French news agency.