The Iranian government said that Washington should not complicate the path of diplomacy in the nuclear file, while the US State Department said that it had offered to negotiate with Iran within the framework of the 5 + 1 group and was awaiting a positive response.
Iranian government spokesman Ali Rabiei said today, Tuesday, that Washington's policy towards Tehran is wrong, and that it is not in a position to impose conditions, as he put it.
Rabiei added that Washington, "if it takes a decision to return to the nuclear agreement, we can quickly backtrack on our steps."
He indicated that Tehran had kept the diplomatic track open, and that Washington should take the first step and not complicate the diplomatic path, calling on it to return to the nuclear deal.
On Monday, the US State Department said that Washington had offered to negotiate with Iran within the framework of the 5 + 1 group (the United States, Britain, France, Russia, China and Germany) in accordance with the European plan, adding that it would like a positive response.
And she added that "the patience of the United States is not limitless" with regard to Iran, noting that it is consulting in this regard with Congress and its allies and partners.
And US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken said that Iran is moving in the wrong direction and continues to take steps to make its nuclear program more dangerous.
Blinken added that the path to diplomacy is open regarding Iran's nuclear file, and that the ball is in its court.
These statements come amid a state of stalemate, as both Tehran and Washington insist that the other side initiate the first step to enter into talks that would lead to the reactivation of the nuclear agreement.
Tehran is required to sit at the negotiating table that Washington should initiate the easing of sanctions, while the administration of US President Joe Biden stresses that Iran should first return to full commitment to the nuclear agreement from which the administration of former US President Donald Trump withdrew in 2018, and Iran has reduced its obligations emanating from it, especially with regard to It is related to uranium enrichment, and the monitoring of its nuclear facilities by international inspectors.
On Monday, Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Saeed Khatib Zadeh said that his country had not received direct or indirect contacts from the United States regarding the nuclear agreement or other files.
Zadeh added that any meetings between Tehran and Washington are subject to a change in the US policy of maximum pressure.
Meanwhile, the International Atomic Energy Agency informed its member states on Monday that Iran had begun enriching uranium in a third series of centrifuges.
In a report obtained by Reuters, the agency said, "Iran has begun enriching uranium in a third series of advanced centrifuges, in the underground Natanz reactor, in another violation of the agreement concluded by the Islamic Republic with the major powers in 2015."
According to the statement, the agency confirmed on March 7 that Iran had begun pumping natural uranium hexafluoride into the third series, which includes 174 centrifuges.
The statement added that the fourth series, which also contains 174 centrifuges, has been installed, but has not yet been fed with natural uranium hexafluoride, and a fifth series is currently being installed.
And last December, Iran's Guardian Council approved a bill to speed up nuclear activities and restrict inspections of nuclear facilities.
The law requires the Iranian Atomic Energy Authority to start increasing uranium enrichment by at least 20%, and increasing its stockpile of low-enriched uranium.
Iran's withdrawal from the Additional Protocol would mean restricting inspections of the facilities by IAEA inspectors.