US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said yesterday that his country hopes that Iran will accept Washington’s offer to hold direct talks over its nuclear program.
Speaking to reporters in Washington, Blinken said Washington’s patience is not endless with regards to Iran.
The US official’s statements come as both Tehran and Washington insist that the other side takes the first step to reactivate the 2015 nuclear agreement which former US President Donald Trump unilaterally withdrew from in 2018.
Earlier on Monday, spokesman for the Iranian Foreign Ministry, Saeed Khatibzadeh, said Tehran has not received direct or indirect contacts from the United States regarding the nuclear agreement or other files.
Khatibzadeh added that any meetings between Tehran and Washington are subject to the US changing its policy of maximum pressure.
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Iranian Foreign Minister Muhammad Javad Zarif also stressed on Monday the need to lift economic sanctions imposed by the US on Iran before discussing the issue of Iran’s nuclear obligations.
The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) told its member states on Monday that Iran has started enriching uranium with a third set of advanced IR-2m centrifuges at its underground plant at Natanz.
“On 7 March 2021, the Agency verified at FEP that: Iran had begun feeding natural UF6 into the third cascade of 174 IR-2m centrifuges,” it said in a report.