Back-channel exchanges continue via mediators despite Washington’s “repeated violations,” a political source in Tehran has told RT
Iran has conveyed its conditions to the US through intermediaries after Washington recently sent new proposals to Tehran, a political source in the Iranian capital has told RT.
The reported contacts come amid renewed regional efforts to revive diplomacy after last week’s flare-up, when the US carried out several rounds of strikes on Iran and Tehran retaliated with missile and drone attacks on American military facilities in Jordan and Bahrain.
“Following the halt of negotiations resulting from US breaches of commitments and its repeated failures in military engagements, the US has recently conveyed proposals to Tehran through mediators,” the source said.
Given Washington’s “repeated violations” and “constant fluctuations in its positions,” Tehran responded by conveying its own conditions to the intermediaries, the source added.
The source did not disclose the details of either the American proposals or the Iranian conditions, but said mediators “continue to talk to both parties.”
Tehran has been pushing Washington to honor the commitments outlined in the June Islamabad Memorandum of Understanding (MoU), but the US is now reportedly seeking a new, broader agreement covering both the Strait of Hormuz and Iran’s nuclear program, the Financial Times reported last week.
Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baqaei said on Monday that US and Israeli attacks on Iranian nuclear facilities were themselves the main obstacle to inspections by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), arguing that Washington was responsible for the resulting lack of access while simultaneously using the issue to increase pressure on Tehran.
“The ball has long been in the US court,” Baqaei said, adding that Washington must end its military attacks, economic sanctions and naval blockade if it wants to resolve the confrontation.
“Diplomacy is a dynamic and continuous process,” the spokesman said, noting that delegations from Oman and Pakistan have visited Iran in recent weeks, while Qatari representatives held talks with Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi in Tehran on Sunday.
Qatari Foreign Ministry spokesman Majed al-Ansari told CNN that Doha had put forward several ideas and was exploring different scenarios aimed at addressing the concerns of both sides.
Tehran and Muscat have meanwhile reported significant progress on a separate arrangement for a temporary safe shipping route through the Strait of Hormuz. Iranian officials have stressed, however, that such an agreement would not amount to the full reopening of the strategic waterway, as Washington has claimed.
Read the full article here