Blinken: Talks About Return to Iran Nuclear Deal 'Will Not Go On Indefinitely'

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Thursday the negotiations on salvaging the 2015 nuclear deal with Iran “cannot and will not go on indefinitely,” signaling it’s up to Tehran to move forward soon on the issue.

Blinken spoke Thursday in Kuwait during a news conference alongside his Kuwaiti counterpart, Sheikh Ahmed Nasser Al Mohammed Al Sabah. The top U.S. diplomat said the Biden administration is willing to continue negotiations, but that Iran needs to make a decision. The two sides have held several rounds of indirect talks in Vienna since U.S. President Joe Biden took office in January. Discussions have dealt with Iran complying with the international agreement that restricted its nuclear program in exchange for sanctions relief. The United States withdrew from the agreement officially known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, or JCPOA, in 2018, and since then Iran has taken multiple steps away from its commitments, including enriching uranium to a higher level of purity and holding larger stockpiles of enriched nuclear material.