Iran to present counter-proposal to US nuclear deal

Iran will soon hand a counter-proposal for a nuclear deal to the United States via Oman, Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Esmaeil Baghaei said today, in response to a US offer that Tehran deems “unacceptable”, Reuters reports.

An Iranian diplomat said the US offer failed to resolve differences over uranium enrichment on Iranian soil, the shipment abroad of Iran’s entire stockpile of highly enriched uranium and steps to lift US sanctions.

“The US proposal is not acceptable to us. It was not the result of previous rounds of negotiations. We will present our own proposal to the other side via Oman after it is finalised. This proposal is reasonable, logical, and balanced,” Baghaei said.

Baghaei added that there was not yet any detail regarding the date of a sixth round of nuclear talks between Iran and the US.

Last week, Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei dismissed the US proposal as being against the country’s interests, pledging to continue enrichment.

During his first term in 2018, US President Donald Trump ditched a 2015 nuclear pact between Iran and six global powers and reimposed sanctions that have crippled Iran’s economy. Iran responded by escalating enrichment far beyond that pact’s limits.