"They are not prepared to come back before the new government," a diplomatic source told Reuters on Wednesday of Tehran’s position. "We are now talking probably not before mid-August.”
Raisi takes office on August 5.
Negotiations between the remaining signatories of the 2015 nuclear deal – Iran, Russia, China, UK, France, and Germany – began in early April in Vienna to find a route for the United States to rejoin after former President Donald Trump unilaterally withdrew in 2018. The talks are looking for a mechanism for the US to lift sanctions and for Iran to return to full compliance with its nuclear obligations.
The sixth round of talks was held last month, and at the time, Abbas Araghchi, deputy foreign minister and Iran’s chief negotiator, said discussions were going well and an agreement was closer than ever. Three weeks later, the seventh round of talks is yet to begin.
The US, which is indirectly engaged in the talks, said it is ready to continue. “We are prepared to return to Vienna for a seventh round of talks. We understand that the Iranians are still undergoing consultations,” US Department of State spokesperson Ned Price said in a press briefing on Wednesday.
“We are ready to go if and when the Iranians signal they are as well,” he added.
The nuclear deal was the hallmark achievement of outgoing Iranian President Hassan Rouhani who this week apologized for not reaching a final agreement. “The opportunity of the twelfth cabinet to reach a deal was taken away, however we hope that the thirteenth cabinet can complete the work,” he told his cabinet on Wednesday.
Since the US withdrew from the deal and imposed crippling sanctions, Iran has steadily walked back on its obligations and is now enriching uranium up to 60 percent, a level it never before achieved, and Rouhani said they could go as far as 90 percent uranium enrichment, adding that the nuclear program is for peaceful purposes. Iran has always denied it wants to obtain a nuclear weapon.
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken in June said it will be difficult to revive the Iranian nuclear deal if Tehran continues to walk back from its obligations under the accord. Iran, which never left the agreement, has demanded the US take the first step and lift all sanctions.
