Expectations are growing that the green light has been turned on in negotiations to restore the nuclear agreement (Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, JCPOA) between the United States and Iran. The United States is responding to the EU’s mediation to restore the nuclear agreement.
Iran’s foreign ministry spokeswoman Nasser Khanani said on the 24th (local time) that “the EU has received a written opinion from the US on the final arbitration proposal for the nuclear deal,” according to Archyde.com. The U.S., which withdrew from the nuclear deal during the Trump administration in 2018, responded to Iran through the EU, which is mediating indirect negotiations with Iran.
“We are carefully reviewing the US position,” Khanani said. The US State Department also confirmed that it had delivered its opinion on the EU arbitration proposal to Iran. Bloomberg and other foreign media evaluated it as “a signal that the US and Iran could reach a nuclear agreement.”
It is reported that the US and Iran are closing their positions on the recent nuclear deal. Iran has been insisting on stopping the International Atomic Energy Agency’s (IAEA) investigation of undeclared nuclear material found in the country, but it has recently been reported to have withdrawn. Foreign media also reported that the US had stopped demanding the withdrawal of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) designation as a terrorist organization.
White House National Security Council (NSC) Strategic Communications Coordinator John Kirby confirmed at a briefing today that Iran had conceded some of its demands. “We are closer than we were just a few weeks ago,” he said. “This is a positive step forward.”
Reporter Semin Heo [email protected]