Top Iran official says nuke talks failing to achieve ‘balance in commitments’

Bennett’s comments come as Iran’s top security official says Washington and Tehran have so far failed to produce “balance” in their commitments during the Vienna talks aimed at restoring the nuclear deal.

“Despite limited progress in the #ViennaTalks, we are still far from achieving the necessary balance in the commitments of the parties,” Supreme National Security Council secretary Ali Shamkhani says in a Twitter post.

“Political decisions in #Washington are requirements for balance of commitments to reach a good agreement,” he adds.

Iran is engaged in negotiations with Britain, China, France, Germany and Russia directly and with the United States indirectly to revive the 2015 deal formally called the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action.

After months of stalemate, progress has been made in recent weeks to revive the agreement that was supposed to prevent Iran from acquiring an atomic bomb, a goal it has always denied pursuing.

The US State Department on Friday said it was waiving sanctions on Iran’s civil nuclear program in a technical step necessary to return to the JCPOA.

The waiver allows other countries and companies to participate in Iran’s civil nuclear program without triggering US sanctions on them, in the name of promoting safety and non-proliferation.