US, Iran Still Far Apart on Sanctions Issues in JCPOA Talks, Official Says
The U.S. made “modest progress” during last week's talks on the Iranian nuclear deal, but the path toward all parties rejoining the deal or a similar one remains steep, the State Department said (see 2112100026). While negotiators now have a “common understanding of what the text will be that will serve as the basis for negotiations on nuclear issues,” the U.S. and Iran are still far apart on issues involving sanctions, a senior State Department official said Dec. 17.
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“Given how much work still needs to be done, given that we still have not achieved that level of clarity on the other issues,” including “sanctions lifting or the sequence of the steps” on sanctions lifting, “there still is a lot of work to do,” the official told reporters.
The official stressed progress so far “will not be sufficient to get to where we need to go before Iran’s nuclear advances render the [Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action] a corpse that cannot be revived.” Negotiators also haven’t yet scheduled the next round of talks. “Iran is going to have to come back with a clear set of issues that it prioritizes and realistic positions on how to resolve them,” the official said.