New York: The US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson has said Washington continues to have “significant issues” with the Iran nuclear deal, after his first talks with his Iranian counterpart, the BBC reported. But, Tillerson said the talks were “very matter of fact,” and acknowledged Iran was complying with the deal. Wednesday’s talks at the United Nations (UN), involving all seven parties that negotiated the deal, focused on its implementation.
They came a day after President Donald Trump denounced the deal.
At a speech to the UN General Assembly, Trump described it as an “embarrassment”. He later told reporters that he had decided what to do about the agreement, but would not reveal what he had decided.
He has until October 15 to decide whether to certify that Iran is complying with the deal. If he fails to do so, Congress could re- introduce sanctions dropped when the accord was implemented. The New York Times quoted unnamed administration officials as saying Trump will revisit the deal rather than scrapping it altogether.
Tillerson said Trump found the so-called sunset clause, which sees restrictions on Iran’s nuclear enrichment programme lifted after 2025, unacceptable.
Iran reached the landmark nuclear deal with the US, UK, France, China and Russia plus Germany in 2015
Iranian President Hassan Rouhani said on Thursday the nuclear deal between the Islamic Republic and six world powers cannot be renegotiated.
“There was some discussion from some people that the nuclear deal isn’t very bad but shouldn’t stay as it is. It’s a deal that’s good but we should sit down again and debate to see if it can be improved. If it has flaws we can fix them,” Rouhani said.He was speaking at a press conference in Tehran broadcast live on state TV after returning from the United Nations General Assembly.” They were told clearly and definitively that the nuclear deal cannot be renegotiated.”
Trump told reporters this week he had made a decision on what to do about the agreement but would not say what he had decided. If Trump does not certify next month that Iran is complying with the accord, the US Congress will have 60 days to decide whether to reimpose sanctions waived under the deal.
— Agencies
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