A senior US official urged Tehran on Monday to agree to direct talks as time was running out for reaching a nuclear deal with the country.
Speaking on condition of anonymity, the official said that Iran’s nuclear program was nearing “breakout” toward nuclear weapons capability, leaving just “weeks” to reach a deal that would put the program on hold and ease sanctions on the country, The Times of Israel reported.
“I think we’re at the point where some of the most critical political decisions have to be made by all sides” in the talks to revive the 2015 deal involving Iran, the United States, Britain, China, France, Germany and Russia, the official said.
“If our goal is to reach an understanding quickly… the optimal way to do that, in any negotiation, is for the parties that have the most at stake to meet directly,” the official said, referring to the Washington and Tehran.
“That’s been our view from the outset: we’re prepared to meet with Iran if they’re prepared to meet with us.”
The latest round of talks in Vienna to save the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, or JCPOA, were put on pause last week, with the European Union’s coordinator calling for “political decisions” to break the deadlock.
