Iran reviewing the US response to EU-proposal to revive 2015 nuclear deal

The 2015 nuclear deal appears to be on its way to being restored following developments from both Iran and the United States over the proposal presented by the European Union. As Qatar continues to mediate the indirect negotiations, Tehran said it was reviewing Washington’s response to the EU proposal.

The Iranian news outlet, Nournews, reported Sunday that Tehran reviews Washington’s response to the European Union’s proposal to restore the 2015 nuclear agreement. The review is expected to take days at expert levels and will take at least until the end of the week. The working week in Iran ends on Friday.

Iran already issued its response to the EU-proposed draft earlier this month, with the US issuing its own feedback on the draft Wednesday last week. EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell said the responses from Tehran and Washington were “reasonable” and that he plans to organize more meetings in Vienna to finalize an agreement if it was possible.

Qatar, which previously served as a mediator on the indirect negotiations between Iran and the US back in June, continues to mediate and relay messages to both countries. The Qatari foreign ministry said assistant foreign minister for regional affairs Mohammed bin Abdulaziz bin Saleh Al-Khulaifi met with Iran’s chief negotiator Ali Bagheri Kani Saturday to discuss the talks.

The statement from the ministry said Al-Khulaifi stressed the importance of restoring the nuclear deal for the stability and security of the region. Al-Khulaifi also spoke with the EU’s coordinator of the talks, Enrique Mora regarding the talks.

The United States, under Donald Trump, withdrew from the deal in 2018 and instead imposed sanctions on Iran.

Last week, the US State Department said it was “encouraged” that Iran appeared to have dropped some of its demands in its response to the proposal.

State Department spokesperson Ned Price suggested that some of the demands Iran dropped were to remove its Revolutionary Guards from the US Foreign Terrorist Organization designation, which President Joe Biden has already previously rejected.

Price’s comments were also in response to Tehran’s accusation that Washington was slow-walking the return to the agreement.