Iran raised the possibility that talks to rescue its nuclear deal with world powers could extend beyond August, when President Hassan Rouhani is set to be replaced by a hardline successor, urging the U.S. to take the "political decision" needed to finalize a deal.
The sides ended their last round of negotiations to try to restore the landmark 2015 accord on Sunday - a day after Ebrahim Raisi, an ultraconservative cleric who’s generally hostile toward the West, emerged as the winner of June 18 elections. He’s due to take over from Rouhani in mid-August.
"If no deal is reached by end of the Rouhani government, then the Raisi government will be in charge” of the negotiations in Vienna, Iranian government spokesman Ali Rabiei told reporters on Tuesday, without elaborating.
Rabiei said that a "clear text" had been reached on how to plot the U.S.’s return to the 2015 accord, the removal of sanctions on Iran, and a rollback of Tehran’s expanded nuclear activities.
He said the process now “requires a political decision by the U.S. and others” involved in the talks, and if that’s forthcoming then the next round of meetings in Vienna could be the last, Bloomberg reported.
Raisi met Monday with members of Iran’s current nuclear negotiating team who briefed him on the latest developments in talks with the U.S., Europe, China and Russia, Rabiei said.
