US Says Fate of Nuclear Pact Up to Iran as Talks Resume

The Biden administration is signaling that Iran shouldn't expect major new concessions from the United States as a new round of indirect nuclear talks is set to resume.

A senior administration official told reporters Thursday that the U.S. has laid out the concessions it’s prepared to make in order to rejoin the landmark 2015 nuclear deal that former President Donald Trump withdrew from in 2018. The official said success or failure now depends on Iran making the political decision to accept those concessions and to return to compliance with the accord. The official spoke to reporters in a State Department-organized conference call on the eve of the negotiations' resumption in Vienna. The official spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss the U.S. position going into the fourth round of closed-door talks at which the remaining participants in the nuclear deal are passing messages between the American and Iranian delegations. The comments came after Secretary of State Antony Blinken complained of Iranian intransigence in the talks during a visit to Ukraine.