The US is “not willing and will not take unilateral steps as sweeteners to sweeten the pot just to get negotiations going,” said Ned Price, the State Department Spokesperson. Speaking at the Department’s press briefing on Monday, Price addressed a question regarding a New York Times story, according to which the administration is willing to give incentive to Iran by easing sanctions to encourage them to negotiate faithfully in Vienna,
The Jerusalem Post reports.
“A mutual return to compliance – it is in the interests of the United States; it is in the interests of the other members of the P5+1; it is also, as previous governments in Iran have concluded, in the interests of Tehran if we are able to get there,” said Price. “We will be clear that we’re not going to engage in unilateral steps for the sake of just getting back to the table.”
The New York Times also reported that U.S. officials have warned Israel that its attacks against the Iranian nuclear program are counterproductive and have enabled Tehran to rebuild an even more efficient enrichment system. Asked about the report, Price said that “at the end of the day, the United States and Israel, we share a common objective here, and that is to see to it that Iran is verifiably and permanently prevented from obtaining a nuclear weapon.”
The Vienna indirect negotiations with Iran about a mutual return to the 2015 nuclear agreement is expected to resume at the end of the month. “As of right now, talks are still slated to resume next Monday, November 29th,” said Price.
