US Says Iran’s Funds Will Remain Frozen Without A Deal

In an article published on Friday, American journalist Laura Rozen quoted the unnamed source as saying that “Every day which passes without achieving agreement, the risk to lose everything increases considerably”.

“As far as I see it, both sides are going into different directions and the distance is not narrowing down,” the European diplomat said, referring to the United States and Iran.

Criticizing the White House’s political cautiousness, former NATO Secretary General Javier Solana and former Swedish Prime Minister Carl Bildt warned in a Washington Post op-ed this week that “Biden must seriously consider the costs of his passivity vis-a-vis Iran and find a way forward — or we may find ourselves in another conflict that no one asked for”.

The French foreign ministry spokesperson said on May 17 that “The draft agreement on resuming compliance with the JCPOA (the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action) has been ready for more than two months. However, it is being held up by an issue between the United States and Iran that is not related to the JCPOA”.

Tehran says Washington must respond to proposals it put forth last week during the visit of EU coordinator Enrique Mora, to break the stalemate in nuclear talks.

Negotiations that started in Vienna in April last year to restore Iran’s 2015 nuclear deal known as JCPOA came to a halt in March as Tehran reportedly demanded the removal of its Islamic Revolution Guard Corps (IRGC) from the US Foreign Terrorist Organization (FTO) list.

Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani told a press conference in Berlin with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, "We hope there will be an agreement between the parties to Iran nuclear agreement”.

Qatar’s ruler visited Tehran last week and held meetings with President Ebrahim Raisi and Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei. His visit coincided with the presence of EU coordinator of the nuclear talks, Enrique Mora, in Tehran.

Most of Iran's official and semi-official media had downplayed or completely excluded any mention of possible mediation in the nuclear talks by the Emir and instead focused on reporting the Iranian leader and president's remarks about regional issues and Israel.

Earlier in the week, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken spoke with Qatari foreign minister Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani about Iran, thanking his counterpart for “Qatar’s constructive role in efforts to resolve issues with Iran” as well as its diplomatic assistance with Afghanistan.

Talks in Vienna since April 2021 had reached a critical stage by mid-March when diplomats announced a pause and returned to their capitals.

A major disagreement reportedly remains the US listing Iran’s Revolutionary Guards (IRGC) as a ‘foreign terrorist organization’ while Iran has also refused to drop calls for retribution for the US killing IRGC general Qasem Soleimani in Baghdad in 2020.

The Texas Republican described the Islamic Republic’s “outrageous demands” as the reason the negotiations to restore the deal have stalled.

He said that “the ayatollahs’ demands are so extreme and so radical” adding that the Biden White House desperately wants a deal at almost any price, “even if it jeopardizes the safety and security of Israel, and even if it jeopardizes the safety and security of the United States".

"I forced a vote on the Senate floor, demanding that terrorism sanctions remain in place on the IRGC, and we won an overwhelming bipartisan victory. The vast majority of Senators, both Republicans and Democrats, voted for my amendment, insisting sanctions remain. I hope that stalls this deal”, he said.

Cruz noted, “The Biden administration had Russia negotiate the deal, Russia as our enemy, Iran as our enemy, and our enemies are sitting at a table together negotiating a deal that hurts America and hurts Israel”.

The eighth round of talks in Vienna which began in late December, came to an abrupt pause in mid-March as major stumbling blocks between Tehran and Washington -- which only negotiates indirectly through the European coordinator of the talks -- remained unresolved.

A major disagreement reportedly remains the US listing of Iran’s Revolutionary Guards (IRGC) as a ‘foreign terrorist organization’ while Iran has also refused to drop calls for retribution for the US killing IRGC general Qasem Soleimani in Baghdad in 2020.

In his daily briefing, Price was asked about the results of European Union chief negotiator Enrique Mora’s recent trip to Iran, but he avoided giving a clear answer, by insisting that the US does “not negotiate in public.” He reiterated that it is up to Iran to move the stalled negotiations forward.

“Iran needs to decide, as I alluded to before, whether it insists on conditions that are extraneous to the JCPOA, or whether it is ready, willing, and able to conclude the JCPOA, a mutual return to compliance with it, quickly,” Price said most likely referring to Tehran’s demand for removing its Revolutionary Guard from a US list of terrorist organizations.

Price also avoided directly answering a question whether the US agrees with the Israeli defense minister Benny Gantz who said Tuesday that Iran is deploying far more uranium enriching centrifuges than previously estimated. He alluded to the secret nature of intelligence information in avoiding a direct answer.

Asked if a military option against Iran, in cooperation with Israel, is on the table, Price said, “We believe that diplomacy and dialogue affords an opportunity to sustainably and durably and permanently put an end to Iran’s ability to produce or otherwise acquire a nuclear weapon.”

Benney Gantz in a speech at Reichman University near Tel Aviv gave figures that appeared to go beyond those published by the UN‘s International Atomic Energy Agency, IAEA.

Centrifuges are used to purify uranium for civilian projects or, at higher levels, to make fissile materiál for a nuclear bomb. Iranian progress in the field is being watched by world powers trying to resurrect the 2015 nuclear deal with Tehran, known as JCPOA.

"Iran is making an effort to complete the manufacturing and installation of 1,000 additional advanced IR6 centrifuges in its nuclear facilities, including new facilities being built at underground sites abutting Natanz," Gantz said.

A March 3 report by the UN International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) said Iran had installed or planned to install a total of three IR6 cascades, amounting to around 660 machines.

IAEA chief Rafael Grossi said last month that Iran had set up a new underground Natanz workshop for making centrifuge parts, an apparent precaution against attacks.

In his remarks, Gantz alluded to Israel's long-standing threat to take military action if it deems diplomacy is at a dead end to deny its arch-enemy the means to make nuclear weapons.

"The cost of such a future war, which we hope will not happen, can be prevented or reduced" with tougher negotiations by world powers, he said.

Reporting by Reuters