US Secretary of State Antony Blinken yesterday questioned Iran’s willingness to return to compliance with the nuclear deal, after weeks of slow-moving talks in Vienna.
Indirect talks with Iran have "clarified what each side needs to do in order to come back into compliance", Mr Blinken told ABC's This Week with George Stephanopoulos.
“We know what sanctions would need to be lifted if they’re inconsistent with the nuclear agreement,” he said.
“But as important, and indeed more important, Iran – I think – knows what it needs to do to come back into compliance on the nuclear side. And what we haven’t seen is whether Iran is ready and willing to make a decision to do what it has to do. That’s the test and we don’t yet have an answer.”
Mr Blinken spoke as Iran’s three-month deal with the International Atomic Energy Agency expired. The agreement, brokered in February, allowed the watchdog’s inspectors access to surveillance footage of Iranian nuclear sites.
Iranian Parliament Speaker Mohammad Qalibaf said yesterday that the inspectors would no longer have access to the surveillance footage.
Mr Blinken repeated that the Biden administration wanted to revive the nuclear deal before addressing issues such as Tehran's funding of proxies across the Middle East.
"The first thing we need to do is put the nuclear problem back in the box," Mr Blinken said. "That's why we're committed to trying to see if Iran will come back into compliance with the nuclear agreement."
Mr Blinken vowed the Biden administration would use a revived nuclear deal “as a platform to build on and to try to deal with these other issues”.
Since former president Donald Trump withdrew from the nuclear deal in 2018, Iran has gradually scaled up its breaches of the agreement.
As officials get ready to convene in Vienna this week for the latest round of talks, Mr Blinken is expected to visit the Middle East after the Egypt-brokered ceasefire between Israel and Hamas last week.
"We have to deal with making this turn from the violence – we have got the ceasefire – and now deal with the humanitarian situation, deal with reconstruction and deepen our existing engagement with Palestinians and with Israelis alike," he said.
Iran's nuclear programme - in pictures
AUSTRALIA SQUAD
Steve Smith (capt), David Warner, Cameron Bancroft, Jackson Bird, Pat Cummins, Peter Handscomb, Josh Hazlewood, Usman Khawaja, Nathan Lyon, Shaun Marsh, Tim Paine, Chadd Sayers, Mitchell Starc.
F1 The Movie
Starring: Brad Pitt, Damson Idris, Kerry Condon, Javier Bardem
Director: Joseph Kosinski
Rating: 4/5
The five pillars of Islam
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
What is the definition of an SME?
SMEs in the UAE are defined by the number of employees, annual turnover and sector. For example, a “small company” in the services industry has six to 50 employees with a turnover of more than Dh2 million up to Dh20m, while in the manufacturing industry the requirements are 10 to 100 employees with a turnover of more than Dh3m up to Dh50m, according to Dubai SME, an agency of the Department of Economic Development.
A “medium-sized company” can either have staff of 51 to 200 employees or 101 to 250 employees, and a turnover less than or equal to Dh200m or Dh250m, again depending on whether the business is in the trading, manufacturing or services sectors.
Results
ATP Dubai Championships on Monday (x indicates seed):
First round
Roger Federer (SUI x2) bt Philipp Kohlschreiber (GER) 6-4, 3-6, 6-1
Fernando Verdasco (ESP) bt Thomas Fabbiano (ITA) 3-6, 6-3, 6-2
Marton Fucsovics (HUN) bt Damir Dzumhur (BIH) 6-1, 7-6 (7/5)
Nikoloz Basilashvili (GEO) bt Karen Khachanov (RUS x4) 6-4, 6-1
Jan-Lennard Struff (GER) bt Milos Raonic (CAN x7) 6-4, 5-7, 6-4
Key facilities
- Olympic-size swimming pool with a split bulkhead for multi-use configurations, including water polo and 50m/25m training lanes
- Premier League-standard football pitch
- 400m Olympic running track
- NBA-spec basketball court with auditorium
- 600-seat auditorium
- Spaces for historical and cultural exploration
- An elevated football field that doubles as a helipad
- Specialist robotics and science laboratories
- AR and VR-enabled learning centres
- Disruption Lab and Research Centre for developing entrepreneurial skills
Sunday:
GP3 race: 12:10pm
Formula 2 race: 1:35pm
Formula 1 race: 5:10pm
Performance: Guns N' Roses
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Killing of Qassem Suleimani
