U.S. State Department denies sending messages to Iran through Iraq
The spokesperson of the U.S. State Department Ned Price. Photo: AFP
Baghdad (IraqiNews.com) – The U.S. Department of State denied sending any messages to Iran through Iraq, stressing that the revival of the nuclear deal has not been on the agenda for months.
“Only Iranian officials can speak to why they continue to tell these lies. Iranian officials can repeat their line as often as they want, but it doesn’t change the underlying facts,” the U.S. State Department spokesperson, Ned Price, said in a news briefing on Monday.
“A revival of the JCPOA has not been on the agenda for months. We have not conveyed any message to the contrary. I can’t speak to why Iranian officials may be trying to deceive the rest of the world,” Price stated.
The Iranian Minister of Foreign Affairs, Hossein Amir-Abdollahian, said that the Iraqi Foreign Minister, Fuad Hussein, carried a message from the United States that it is ready to reach an agreement regarding Tehran’s nuclear program.
Abdollahian confirmed earlier that Iran always welcomes the diplomatic path and dialogue.
The Iranian Foreign Minister indicated that the messages they received stressed the need to take into account the interests of each party in the talks, and of course Iran’s red lines regarding the outcome of the nuclear agreement.
In May 2018, the United States unilaterally withdrew from the agreement and imposed economic sanctions on Iran. Tehran responded by abandoning some of the restrictions on its nuclear activity stipulated in the agreement.