Iran says US delaying on nuke deal, US sees progress

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DUBAI — Iran accused the United States on Monday of procrastinating in efforts to revive Tehran’s 2015 nuclear deal – a charge denied by Washington, which said a deal was closer than two weeks ago because of apparent Iranian flexibility.

After 16 months of fitful, indirect American-Iranian talks, with European Union officials shuttling between the sides, a senior EU official said on Aug. 8 it had laid down a final offer and expected a response within a “very, very few weeks”.

Iran last week responded to the EU’s text with “additional views and considerations” while calling on the United States to show flexibility to resolve three remaining issues.

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Josep Borrell, the EU’s foreign policy chief, said on Monday he hoped the United States would respond positively as early as this week to the bloc’s proposal, adding that Iran had given a “reasonable” response.

“The Americans are procrastinating and there is inaction from the European sides. … America and Europe need an agreement more than Iran,” Iran’s Foreign Ministry spokesperson, Nasser Kanaani, told a news conference.

US State Department spokesman Ned Price denied that, telling reporters in Washington: “The notion that we have delayed this negotiation in any way is just not true.”

Price said the United States was encouraged that Iran seemed to have dropped demands such as the removal of its Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps from the US foreign terrorist organization list.

“That’s part of the reason why 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,” Price said, adding the United States was working as quickly as possible to provide its response.

The United States has called on Tehran to release Iranian-Americans held in Iran on security charges. Iran has demanded that several Iranians detained on charges linked to US sanctions be freed.

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