Iran backpedaled any concessions it made in previous talks on recovering the 2015 nuclear deal, pocketed all compromises that others had made and asked for more in its latest proposals, a senior U.S. State Department official said Saturday.
Iran came "with proposals that walked back anything - any of the compromises Iran had floated here in the six rounds of talks, pocket all of the compromises that others, and the U.S. in particular, had made, and then asked for more," the official told reporters, added that he did not know when the next round of talks would resume – other officials had said they would reconvene next week. Also he stressed the date was less important than Iran's willingness to negotiate seriously.
Iran continues to accelerate its nuclear program in provocative ways and China and Russia were taken aback at how far Iran had walked back its proposals in last week's talks in Vienna, the official told reporters on condition of anonymity.
The indirect U.S.-Iranian talks on saving the 2015 Iran nuclear deal broke off on Friday as European officials voiced dismay on at sweeping demands by Iran's new, hardline government.
The seventh round of talks in Vienna is the first with delegates sent by Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi on how to resuscitate the agreement under which Iran limited its nuclear program in return for relief from economic sanctions.
Iran currency falls as nuclear talks seem to hit roadblock
Indirect U.S.-Iranian talks on saving the 2015 Iran nuclear deal broke off on Friday until next week, with European officials voicing dismay at sweeping demands by Iran's new, hardline government. Washington said Tehran "does not seem to be serious."
In Iran, the U.S. dollar was selling for as much as 302,200 rials on the unofficial market on Saturday, up from 294,000 on Friday, according to the foreign exchange site Bonbast.com.
"The market has received a first shock from the nuclear accord (talks)," wrote the economic news website eghtesadnews.com. It said the dollar gained 6,000 rials to 299,500 before rising above 300,000 on Saturday.
In October 2020, the rial currency hit a record low of about 320,000 to a dollar as a drop in oil prices deepened the economic crisis in the country already reeling under U.S. sanctions and the highest COVID-19 death toll in the Middle East.