ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - Iran has dropped its condition to remove the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) from the United States’ terror blacklist to return to the 2015 nuclear deal, Washington said on Monday, bringing the possibility of an agreement closer.
Tehran has long insisted on Washington to drop sanctions against the IRGC and remove the force from its list of Foreign Terrorist Organizations (FTOs) as a precondition for its return to the nuclear deal but seems to have failed in efforts to persuade the latter to carry out the decision.
"We are encouraged by the fact that Iran appears to have dropped some of its nonstarter demands, such as lifting the FTO designation of the IRGC," US State Department spokesperson Ned Price told reporters during a press briefing on Monday.
While that condition has been dropped, there are still some "outstanding issues that must be resolved, some gaps that must be bridged" to secure the deal's revival, according to Price, who said the US will respond to Iran's response to the "final" European Union proposal as soon as internal consultations are concluded.
Iran on Monday slammed the US’ “delay” in responding to EU’s proposal aimed at restoring the deal between Tehran and world powers, saying it will not continue waiting for Washington’s response.
However, the US denied stalling the agreement with Price saying "it has taken us some additional time to review those [Iran's] comments and to determine a response of our own," but assured that the US text will be delivered by the end of the week upon EU’s request.
"I can guarantee you that we will not take a day longer than is necessary to provide our response to the EU," he said.
Iran last week responded to EU’s “final” text to restore the nuclear deal following some 16 months of indirect talks with the US.
During the presser, Price also noted that Washington in March “had arrived at the text essentially of a deal” to implement the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), saying the draft was similar to the EU-proposed text that Tehran seems close to accepting.
The JCPOA was signed between Britain, China, France, Germany, Iran, Russia, and the US in 2015, offering Iran sanctions relief in exchange for curbs on its nuclear program that it rapidly advanced following former US president Donald Trump's unilateral withdrawal from the deal.
After Trump withdrew, Iran embarked on a campaign to rapidly advance its uranium enrichment capabilities, sparking concerns that the country is seeking to develop a nuclear bomb.
However, Iran has repeatedly denied any allegations that it seeks to produce nukes.
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