TEHRAN: The United States, which has for two months been holding indirect talks with Iran on the future of the tattered nuclear deal, said Monday (Tuesday in Manila) it was not even sure if Tehran really wanted to come back into compliance. Former US president Donald Trump pulled out of the Iran nuclear deal in 2018, claiming that itdid not do enough to prevent the Islamic republic from building a nuclear weapon. Trump tightened sanctions on Tehran, and the Iranian authorities responded by loosening restrictions on their nuclear program imposed by the deal. President Joe Biden has said he would rejoin the agreement if Iran lives up to its end of the bargain. "We're not even at the stage of returning to compliance for compliance," Blinken said.

Source: Manila Times June 08, 2021 16:10 UTC