Iran says it’s ready for new talks with US on nuclear deal

UNITED NATIONS — Iran said Thursday it is ready for new indirect talks with the United States to overcome the last hurdles to revive its tattered 2015 nuclear deal with major powers amid a growing crisis over the country’s atomic program. Yet Ravanchi described the Qatar talks as “serious and positive.” He said Iran will contact the European Union coordinators “for the next stage of talks.” During intensive consultations with EU’s foreign policy chief Josep Borrell in Tehran last week “Iran once again emphasized its willingness to provide creative solutions to the remaining issues in the hope of ending the deadlock,” Ravanchi said. The State Department said after this week’s talks in Doha that Iran “raised issues wholly unrelated to the JCPOA and apparently is not ready to make a fundamental decision on whether it wants to revive the deal or bury it.” Before Ravanchi spoke, U.S. deputy ambassador Richard Mills told the council that the United States “remains committed to a mutual return to full implementation” of the JCPOA. Before the council meeting, France, Britain and Germany issued a joint statement saying Iran’s nuclear program “is now more advanced than at any point in the past” and its actions “are rapidly unsettling the balance of the package we had negotiated over many months.” The statement urged Iran “to conclude the deal, while it is still possible” and warned that its actions raise further obstacles to the IAEA’s ability “to provide assurance of the peaceful nature of Iran’s nuclear program.” U.N. political chief Rosemary DiCarlo expressed hope that Iran and the United States “will continue to build on the momentum of the last few days of talks” in Qatar to resolve the remaining issues. Russia’s deputy U.N. ambassador Dmitry Polyansky, while critical of allegations against Iran, said Moscow “wholeheartedly supports negotiations” to revive the JCPOA and sees “no insurmountable issues.” “Attempts to step up pressure on Iran through unwarranted fueling of tensions around the JCPOA could fully invalidate prospects for reviving the deal,” he cautioned and urged all parties to focus on compromise.