Washington DC, April 14
US Vice President JD Vance has said that any further negotiations with Iran over a nuclear deal depend entirely on Tehran's willingness to engage, reiterating that the onus lies on the Iranian side to move the talks forward, CNN reported.
"It's a question that would be best put to the Iranians because the ball really is in their court," Vance told Fox News' Bret Baier on Monday, as quoted by CNN.
Vice President Vance emphasised that the US requires a "conclusive commitment" from Iran not to develop a nuclear weapon.
"We must have their conclusive commitment not to develop a nuclear weapon. And I think that if the Iranians are willing to meet us there, then this can be a very, very good deal for both countries. If they're not willing to meet us there, that's up to them," he said.
He further noted that the Iranian delegation that participated in recent talks in Pakistan did not have the authority to finalise an agreement, prompting the US team to leave after 21 hours of negotiations.
"I do think that we acquired some knowledge about how the Iranians are negotiating and this is ultimately why we left Pakistan. Because what we figured out is that they were unable, I think the team that was there was unable to cut a deal, and they had to go back to Tehran, either from the supreme leader or somebody else, and actually get approval to the terms that we had set," Vance told Fox News, as quoted by CNN.
While acknowledging that there were some positive developments during the discussions, Vance said that Iran's response did not go far enough to meet US expectations, particularly on critical issues such as the removal of enriched uranium and assurances that Tehran would not pursue nuclear weapons.
"They moved in our direction, which is why I think we would say that we had some good signs, but they didn't move far enough," Vance told Fox News, quoted by CNN, putting the onus on Iran to come back to the table.
"There really is, I think, a grand deal to be had here, but it's up to the Iranians, I think, to take the next step," Vance added.
On Sunday, JD Vance said that no agreement had been reached in talks with Iran, despite hours of negotiations in Pakistan, and that the discussions had reached a stalemate.
He added that while the US delegation would return to the United States, the outcome of the talks was "bad news for Iran" more than for the United States.
- ANI
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