Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir Abdollahian said that his country is serious about reaching a strong and sustainable nuclear agreement, and that Washington's accusation of Iran's obstruction is baseless, while Washington confirmed that there is a deal on the table for Tehran to return to the nuclear agreement.
The Iranian Foreign Minister talked about a draft agreement covering 96% of the issues, but he said that the draft lacks guaranteeing Iran's economic interests.
He added that Washington should make commitments to ensure that Tehran fully benefits from the economic benefits of the nuclear deal.
Abdullahian stressed that Washington had asked, through mediators, to settle the file of the assassination of General Qassem Soleimani, but Iran refused to do so, saying that this file had not yet been closed and that revenge for Soleimani was an inevitable duty.
On another subject, the Iranian Foreign Minister said that Baghdad had officially informed his country of Saudi Arabia's readiness to transfer Tehran's dialogue with it from the security space to the political one, and that his government had informed Saudi Arabia of its readiness to continue dialogue at the political level to restore diplomatic relations.
He stressed that the UAE and Kuwait have presented two new ambassadors who will begin their work in Tehran soon.
Washington: The deal is on the table
In contrast to the Iranian statements, US State Department spokesman Ned Price said that Iran has not yet taken the necessary decisions to return to the nuclear agreement, and that sanctions will remain in place unless Tehran changes its course.
Price noted that a deal has been on the table for Iran for months to return to the nuclear deal, and he expected Washington's allies around the world to "continue to exert strong economic and financial pressure on Iran unless it changes course."
In this context, Israeli Defense Minister Benny Gantz said that his country would not rush to war with Iran, but that it should be able to launch a military strike if necessary.
"We, the leaders of Israel, have a historic responsibility to ensure that Iran does not obtain a nuclear weapon," he added.
Britain questions Khamenei's support for the deal
For his part, the head of British Foreign Intelligence, MI6, Richard Moore, expressed his doubts that the Iranian leader, Ali Khamenei, would support a return to the nuclear agreement, despite seeking to resume negotiations on this issue.
"If we can get a deal, it's probably the best way we have to curb Iran's nuclear program," Richard Moore said Thursday during the Aspen Security Forum in the United States of America.
"I don't think the Supreme Leader of Iran wants to reach an agreement. The Iranians also won't want to end the talks, so they may continue for a while," he added.
"I think the deal is on the table," Moore said. "The European powers and the (U.S.) administration are very, very clear about it. I don't think the Chinese and the Russians are going to block this issue, but I don't think the Iranians want."
It is the first time that Moore speaks abroad while participating in the conference, which was held in the US state of Colorado.
The talks have officially stopped since last March, with points of disagreement remaining between Tehran and Washington, despite the concerned parties' assertion that progress has been made to revive the agreement.