US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken said that "the path of diplomacy with Iran has become short," and that Tehran must decide in the coming days to return to the nuclear agreement, or Washington will be forced to consider other options.

Blinken added in a press statement that "Iran does not seem serious about returning to the nuclear agreement, and we will continue our dialogue with our partners, including Israel."

He considered that Iran had recently proceeded to increase uranium enrichment, "dangerously, which limits the return to the nuclear agreement" signed by Iran and Western countries in 2015, and the United States withdrew from it during the era of former President Donald Trump.

In the same context, the White House said that Iran had started the new round of Vienna negotiations with "nuclear provocations", and that it had "failed to reach an understanding with the International Atomic Energy Agency to restore cooperation."

The White House added that the new Iranian administration "did not come to Vienna with constructive proposals," and that US President Joe Biden "is committed to returning to the nuclear agreement as long as Iran is committed to doing so."


further consultation

On the other hand, Enrique Mora, the European Union coordinator for the Vienna talks on the Iranian nuclear file, said that the delegations will return to their capitals for further consultations, and return to the meeting next Wednesday or Thursday.

The European official described working with the new Iranian delegation as fruitful.

In turn, the Chinese delegate participating in the talks said that the delegations need more time, and they agreed to return to Vienna in the middle of next week to follow up on the negotiations.

The chief Iranian negotiator, Ali Bagheri, also said that the negotiations will resume next week, after the parties return to the capitals for consultation.

In statements to reporters in Vienna, Bagheri expressed his hope for a reasonable and logical response to the two drafts submitted by Blah during the negotiations.

Bagheri had accused - in an interview with Al-Jazeera network - what he called outside players of making efforts to disrupt the talks.

In response to Israel's recent statements, Baqeri said that it would not dare to dream of attacking Iran, because that would be its end, as he described it.

He added that Tehran had made proposals in the Vienna negotiations that could not be rejected.


Western anxiety

In a parallel context, Reuters quoted Western diplomats in the Vienna negotiations as expressing their disappointment and concern about the amendments Iran made to the draft agreement reached last June, during the era of former Iranian President Hassan Rouhani.

Diplomats said the changes were significant, some of which contravene the 2015 agreement.

They added that it is not clear how these new gaps can be filled in a realistic time frame, on the basis of the two drafts submitted by Iran.

And the "Axios" news website had revealed that Western negotiators in the Vienna negotiations had informed the Iranian delegation that the proposals it presented during the negotiations were not serious.

And the website quoted a Western diplomat as saying that they told the Iranian delegation that the negotiations are at an impasse, and that they need to be evaluated.

But the Iranian chief negotiator said that the European parties could propose their own drafts for discussion, stressing that "the Europeans may not be satisfied with some of our proposals, but they did not question their legality."

According to the Iranian news agency and television, Baqeri said before leaving Vienna, "There is no problem if the Europeans also submit drafts, and they can be discussed, but it should be based on principles agreed upon by both sides."