US says deal with Iran remains ‘far from certain’

Aveen Karim

ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - The US said on Tuesday that a deal with Iran is “far from certain” but that it still remains committed to reaching an agreement, while calling for the immediate release of two French nationals detained by Tehran. 

US State Department spokesperson Ned Price said on Tuesday that the ball was in Iran’s court on whether it would continue making demands for conditions that lie outside the 2015 nuclear deal, also known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA).

“We and our partners are ready. We have been for some time. We believe it is now up to Iran to demonstrate its seriousness,” Price stated, adding that a return to the deal still remains an uncertainty at this time. 

The European Union’s Coordinator for nuclear talks with Iran, Enrique Mora, held discussions in Tehran last week with Iran’s chief negotiator Ali Bagheri, breaking a stalemate in discussions. 

Iranian foreign ministry spokesman Saeed Khatibzadeh said on Monday, during his weekly press conference, that Iran is waiting for the US to respond to “solutions” that it had proposed. 

Iran and world powers, including the US, have held talks for almost a year aimed at reviving the 2015 nuclear deal, with Iran insisting that the US must lift its crippling sanctions, including those on the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), which has typically been a separate issue from its nuclear program.

Price stated that a mutual return to the deal depended on whether Tehran would continue to insist on “conditions that are extraneous to the JCPOA,” referring to the issue of the IRGC. The US has repeatedly stated that sanctions on the forces would remain in place regardless of the outcome of negotiations. 

He also emphasized the need for a return to the deal in order to bring Iran’s nuclear program back to monitoring and limitations, adding that the US shares Israel’s concerns regarding Tehran’s current nuclear capability. 

Commander of US Central Command (CENTCOM) Michael Kurilla landed in Israel on Wednesday to observe the Israel Defense Forces’ (IDF) military exercises. The drills are possibly aimed at sending a message to Tehran that the military option remains on the table if it does not return to compliance. 

 

Foreign nationals detained in Iran

Price condemned the recent arrest of two French nationals in Iran, calling for their immediate release. He added that the detention of foreign nationals is usually used for “political leverage.” 

When asked whether negotiations for the release of foreign were tied to the JCPOA, Price stated that the two were not related because of the uncertainty of the deal.

 “A mutual return to compliance with the JCPOA is far from certain. We want to see the return of our unjustly detained American citizens as a certainty.”

Iran confirmed on Tuesday the arrest of two French nationals, saying they met with protesting teachers and took part in an anti-government rally. Last week, France condemned the arrests and called for their immediate release.

There are numerous foreign nationals detained in Iran including American, British and Swedish nationals. Activists and critics of the regime in Iran argue that foreign nationals are detained in an attempt to extract concessions from the West.

Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe, an Iranian-British national who was detained in April 2016 on spying charges was freed in March after Britain agreed to pay an old debt of nearly half a billion dollars.

Iran has a history of detaining foreign citizens that travel to Iran, accusing them of causing riots and working with the foreign intelligence agencies, mostly Israel’s Mossad spy agency and the US’s Central Intelligence Agency (CIA).