There is no rush to strike a nuclear deal with Iran, Trump says
US President Donald Trump on July 15th stated he is in “no rush” to strike a nuclear deal with Iran, following the Israel-Iran conflict, according to The National.
Trump indicated he is not keen to immediately strike a deal with the Middle Eastern country. “They would like to talk. I’m in no rush to talk because we obliterated the site,” Trump said after returning to Washington following a trip to Pittsburgh, referring to strikes made by the US in June.
Previously, US intelligence assessments disclosed that US attacks on Iran have held back Iran’s atomic programme by two years, which potentially places further strain on securing a deal with Iran.
Iran stated on July 14th that it will not resume nuclear talks with the US if negotiations are conditional on Iran stopping its uranium enrichment activities, according to the state news agency Irna.
Tehran and Washington held multiple rounds of negotiations aiming to revive a nuclear deal between both countries. However, those efforts came to a halt after Israel launched air strikes on Iran in June, igniting 12 days of war between Iran and Israel.
Israel previously claimed that their attacks damaged the uranium enrichment centrifuges in Natanz. Israel’s military stated that “critical infrastructure enabling the site’s continuous operation” were targeted.
While a ceasefire was announced ending the war between Israel and Iran, President Trump also indicated his interest in returning to negotiations with Iran. However, Tehran stood firm on its stance that it would not give up its right to the peaceful use of nuclear power.
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, alongside the foreign ministers of France, Germany, and the United Kingdom, agreed during a phone call on July 14th to set the end of August as the deadline for striking a nuclear agreement with Iran, according to Axios.
If no deal is made by that deadline, the three European nations will plan on introducing the “snapback” strategy that will automatically reinstate all UN Security Council sanctions removed under the 2015 Iranian deal, Axios reported.
The National, Axios, Maghrebi.org, Irna
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