IRAN SAYS IT’S READY FOR TALKS WITH U.S.

Iran said Thursday it is ready for new indirect talks with the United States to overcome the last hurdles to revive its tattered 2015 nuclear deal with major powers amid a growing crisis over the country’s atomic program.

Iran’s U.N. Ambassador Majid Takht Ravanchi told the U.N. Security Council that the Iranian “negotiating team is ready to engage constructively again to conclude and reach agreement.”

“The ball is in U.S.’ court, and if the U.S. acts realistically and shows its serious intention to implement its obligations, the agreement is not out of reach,” he added.

Ravanchi’s remarks came a day after indirect negotiations between Iran and the U.S. ended in Qatar after failing to make significant progress. Yet Ravanchi described the Qatar talks as “serious and positive.”

He said Iran will contact the European Union coordinators “for the next stage of talks.”

During intensive consultations with EU’s foreign policy chief Josep Borrell in Tehran last week, “Iran once again emphasized its willingness to provide creative solutions to the remaining issues in the hope of ending the deadlock,” Ravanchi said.

He spoke at a Security Council meeting on the U.N. resolution that endorsed the 2015 nuclear deal and its five permanent members — the U.S., Russia, China, Britain and France — and Germany. In 2018, then-President Donald Trump pulled America out of the agreement.

Before Ravanchi spoke, U.S. deputy ambassador Richard Mills told the council that the United States “remains committed to a mutual return to full implementation” of the agreement.