Iran confirms it received US response on nuclear deal

Iran confirmed on Wednesday it had received a response from the United States to its proposals on a final European Union draft for the revival of the 2015 nuclear deal, AFP reported.

Tehran “received this evening via the (EU) coordinator, the response from the US government over the Islamic Republic of Iran’s opinions on the outstanding issues in the negotiations to lift sanctions,” Iranian foreign ministry spokesman Nasser Kanani was quoted as having said.

“The process of carefully reviewing the US opinions has begun, and the Islamic Republic of Iran will announce its opinion in this context to the coordinator after it completes its review,” Kanani added, without providing further details.

Washington confirmed on Wednesday it had responded to Iran’s proposals.

“As you know, we received Iran’s comments on the EU’s proposed final text through the EU,” State Department spokesman Ned Price said, according to AFP.

“Our review of those comments has now concluded. We have responded to the EU today”.

Last week, Iran sent its proposals over the final draft sent on August 8 by the EU, which has coordinated talks in Vienna on reviving the pact.

The proposal, submitted on July 26 by EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell, has been described by the EU as a “final draft” of the agreement.

US State Department spokesperson Ned Price on Monday expressed some optimism about the prospects of salvaging the Iran nuclear deal, but stressed that divisions remain between the United States and Iran.

“A deal is closer now than it was two weeks ago, but the outcome of these ongoing discussions still remains uncertain as gaps do remain,” Ned Price said at a State Department briefing, according to CNN.

A senior US official told Reuters that Iran has dropped some of its key demands to renew the nuclear agreement.

Speaking on condition of anonymity, the official told the news agency that Iran “came back last week and basically dropped the main hang-ups to a deal.”

Israeli officials, meanwhile, warned the US against signing the agreement with Iran.

Prime Minister Yair Lapid on Wednesday afternoon held a briefing for foreign journalists in which he explained Israel’s opposition to the proposed revised nuclear deal with Iran.

“Israel is not against any agreement. We are against this agreement, because it is a bad one. Because it cannot be accepted as it is written right now,” Lapid said. “Because it cannot be accepted as it is written right now. In our eyes, it does not meet the standards set by President Biden himself: preventing Iran from becoming a nuclear state.”

He noted that the billions of dollars Iran would receive as part of the deal would go towards funding terrorism and destabilizing the Middle East. “On the table right now is a bad deal. It would give Iran a hundred billion dollars a year. This money will not build schools or hospitals. This is a hundred billion dollars a year that will be used to undermine stability in the Middle East and spread terror around the globe. This money will fund the Revolutionary Guards. It will fund the Basij who oppress the Iranian people. It will fund more attacks on American bases in the Middle East. It will be used to strengthen Hezbollah, Hamas, and Islamic Jihad.”

Former Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, in an interview with Fox News, said that the agreement in its current form is “a horrible deal, a dangerous deal, that will pave Iran’s path with gold, a golden-paved highway to a nuclear arsenal.”

“If Iran has nuclear weapons, they don’t merely threaten my country Israel, or the entire Middle East and America’s allies. They threaten you directly,” Netanyahu said.

“Simultaneously with their developing nuclear weapons, they are developing the means to deliver them across continents,” he added. “You could have Iran, governed by these fanatic ayatollahs, who will hold every American city hostage to nuclear weapons.”

“I think this is a threat to the peace of the world, and that’s what this horrible deal facilitates. It’s even worse than the first one,” Netanyahu warned.