US Secretary Of State Discusses Status Of Iran Nuclear Talks With Qatar

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken discussed Sunday the latest developments surrounding the Iran nuclear talks with his Qatari counterpart Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani.

They focused on opportunities for greater cooperation on regional issues in a phone call, in which Blinken also thanked Al Thani for Qatar’s continued assistance with Iran and Afghanistan diplomacy, as well as Qatar’s announcement of an additional $60 million to support the Lebanese Armed Forces.

The American diplomat lauded Qatar’s efforts in helping to continue efforts for attaining a mutual return to full implementation of the 2015 nuclear accord, formally known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), in particular for Doha hosting indirect talks between Tehran and Washington.

Brokered by the European Union, the two-day talks in the Qatari capital last week were aimed at breaking a months-long impasse in negotiations to restore the JCPOA, but ended without any tangible results.

Tehran blames Washington’s inflexibility to guarantee Iran’s economic benefit under the deal for lack of progress in the proximity talks, while US officials say, "The Iranians have not demonstrated any sense of urgency, raised old issues that have been settled for months.”

In a phone call with French Foreign Minister Catherine Colonna on Monday, Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian said, “The US side attended talks in Doha without an approach based on initiative and progress. Our assessment of Doha talks is positive but we should see how the US wants to seize this chance for diplomacy.”

Iran's chief nuclear negotiator Ali Bagheri-Kani paid an unannounced visit to Russia after Doha talks.