IRANIANS REJECT NUCLEAR DEAL TALKS WITH U.S.

Iran on Sunday rejected an offer to negotiate directly with the United States in an informal meeting proposed by Europeans to revive the nuclear deal that President Donald Trump exited nearly three years ago.

A spokesperson for Iran’s foreign ministry, Saeed Khatibzadeh, said recent actions taken by Washington and Europeans had led Iran to conclude that the “time was not right” to hold such talks. His remarks came days after President Joe Biden ordered retaliatory strikes against Iranian-backed militias in eastern Syria that were tied to recent attacks against American and allied personnel in Iraq.

“There has been no change in America’s positions and actions,” Khatibzadeh said in a foreign ministry statement. “The Biden administration has not set aside Trump’s maximum pressure policy, nor has it announced its commitments” under the 2015 nuclear deal abandoned by Trump.

Biden has said the United States will return to the deal if Iran first returns to the commitments it made when it was signed. Iran has demanded that the United States lift all sanctions against it, and it has recently taken steps to increase uranium enrichment and limit the access by international inspectors to its nuclear sites.

That impasse prompted European signatories to the deal to suggest an informal meeting in which the Americans would attend as a guest and the two sides would get the opportunity to engage directly.

Privately, American officials have expressed confidence that the timing questions could be resolved.