WASHINGTON, DC — The US still believes a return to a nuclear deal is the best
path with Iran, Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Tuesday, amid a
prolonged standoff in talks.
اضافة اعلان
Facing criticism of the deal during an appearance
before Congress, Blinken called the 2015 agreement imperfect but better than
the alternatives.
“We continue to believe that getting back into
compliance with the agreement would be the best way to address the nuclear
challenge posed by Iran and to make sure that an Iran that is already acting
with incredible aggression doesn’t have a nuclear weapon,” Blinken told the
Senate Foreign Relations Committee.
“We’ve tested the other proposition, which was
pulling out of the agreement, trying to exert more pressure,” he said.
The result, he said, is that the “breakout time” for
Iran to develop a nuclear bomb if it so chooses is “down to a matter of weeks”
after the deal pushed it beyond a year.
Former president Donald Trump pulled out of the
agreement reached under his predecessor Barack Obama and instead imposed
sweeping sanctions, including trying to stop other nations from buying Iranian
oil.
President Joe Biden’s administration has been
engaged in more than a year of indirect talks in Vienna on reviving the
agreement, which had promised Iran a relief from sanctions in return for major
restrictions on its nuclear work.
Both US and Iranian officials say that most points
have been settled. Disputes appear to include Iran’s demand that Biden undo
Trump’s designation of the clerical state’s powerful Revolutionary Guards as a
terrorist organization.
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