US still waiting for Iran weeks after Biden voiced interest in direct talks

The United States is still waiting for Iran to accept its offer to negotiate the now-defunct nuclear deal, weeks after Washington and US President Joe Biden expressed willingness to sit down with officials from Tehran.

“What we have said, and the offer that we have put on the table, together with our European partners still stands. It’s been a couple of weeks now that we indicated our willingness to accept an invitation on the part of the EU to engage in direct diplomacy,” State Department Spokesman Ned Price told Al Arabiya English.

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“On our part, it would be clear-eyed, principled direct diplomacy with Iran, in the context of the P5+1. That’s where believe these issues need to … be discussed if we are to make progress in a mutual return to compliance with the JCPOA commitment,” he added during the phone call with reporters.

The JCPOA, an acronym for the 2015 nuclear deal, has been the center of focus between renewed efforts by the US to re-engage Iran after former President Donald Trump withdrew from it in 2018.

Asked for comment on claims by Iranian President Hassan Rouhani that the Trump-era sanctions cost Iran's economy around $200 billion, Price remained tight-lipped.

Price’s comments come after Iran’s top diplomat, Mohammad Javad Zarif, said he would soon present a constructive plan of action on the nuclear deal.

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