US says diplomacy best option for Iran nuclear talks

Speaking at a news conference in Indonesia, Blinken stated Washington was actively engaging with its allies and partners regarding alternatives.

“We continue in this hour, on this day, to pursue diplomacy because it remains at this moment the best option, but we are actively engaging with allies and partners on alternatives,” he noted.

The US State Department has announced it is too soon to say whether Iran has returned to nuclear talks with a more constructive approach. State Department deputy spokeswoman Jalina Porter made the comment during a briefing call with reporters on Monday.

Iran’s top nuclear negotiator, Ali Bagheri Kani, noted over the weekend that good progress had been made in nuclear talks with world powers in Vienna that could quickly pave the way for serious negotiations.

But on Monday, senior British, French and German diplomats claimed major powers and Iran have yet to get down to business at talks on rescuing the 2015 nuclear deal, which will very soon become “an empty shell” without progress.

“As of this moment, we still have not been able to get down to real negotiations,” the diplomats from the so-called E3 said in a statement about the Vienna nuclear negotiations in which they are shuttling between US and Iranian officials.

“Time is running out. Without swift progress, in light of Iran’s fast-forwarding of its nuclear programme, the JCPOA will very soon become an empty shell,” they added, referring to the deal, whose full name is the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA).

“We are losing precious time dealing with new Iranian positions inconsistent with the JCPOA or that go beyond it,” the E3 diplomats said in their statement.

“This is frustrating because the outline of a comprehensive and fair agreement that removes all JCPOA-related sanctions, while addressing our non-proliferation concerns, is clearly visible – and has been so since last summer,” they added.

Iran on Tuesday accused Western parties to the nuclear deal of “persisting in their blame game”.

“Some actors persist in their blame game habit, instead of real diplomacy. We proposed our ideas early, and worked constructively and flexibly to narrow gaps,” Bagheri Kani wrote on Twitter.

“Diplomacy is a two-way street. If there’s real will to remedy the culprit’s wrongdoing, the way for a quick, good deal will be paved,” he stated.