There should be a possibility to negotiate a deal stronger than the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), US Special Envoy for Iran, Robert Malley, said on Wednesday.
He added that if Iran wants more than the JCPOA then it is needed to have a different deal and bring different issues to the table. Malley also said that the US now has a different Iranian team that is "clearly stating it wants to do things differently."
Washington is ready to consider all options for how it would deal with a world in which Iran has not returned to the constraints of the 2015 nuclear deal, the envoy added.
"We will be prepared to adjust to a different reality in which we have to deal with all options to address Iran's nuclear program if it's not prepared to come back into the constraints," of Tehran's 2015 nuclear deal with six major powers," he said during a video-link at a Washington think tank, as quoted by Reuters.
According to the US envoy, there has been too much focus on the date for the resumption of Iran nuclear talks while the key point here is whether Tehran "comes back with a realistic point of view".
Meanwhile, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said that "time has been running short regarding Iran returning to compliance with the nuclear deal." He added that Iran's responses to the US willingness to return to nuclear talks have not been "encouraging".
Talks on the status of the JCPOA have been continuing for months after the US had unilaterally withdrawn from the deal in 2018 and reimposed tough economic sanctions on Tehran. In response to the US withdrawal, Iran announced that it would gradually resume uranium enrichment beyond the limits set in the 2015 deal.
The JCPOA was reached between Iran and the Five permanent members of the UNSC - China, Russia, France, UK, US plus Germany - in Vienna in July 2015. Under the deal, Iran agreed to eliminate its stockpile of medium-enriched uranium in exchange for relief from US and European economic sanctions.