Blinken Denies Any New Nuclear Deal With Iran

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Wednesday that no new nuclear deal with Iran was on the table, after many reports of contacts between the two sides in recent weeks.

"There is no agreement in the offing, even as we continue to be willing to explore diplomatic paths," Blinken said at the Council on Foreign Relations in New York.

"We'll see by their actions," Blinken said of the future relationship, calling on Iran to choose to "not take actions that further escalate the tensions" with the United States and in the Middle East.

The Biden administration has been denying all media reports about an alleged interim and limited deal that would release billions of dollars’ worth of Iranian frozen assets in exchange for some restraint in Tehran’s uranium enrichment program.

Blinken and Israeli Foreign Minister Eli Cohen held a telephone call Tuesday and consulted over Iran’s “destabilizing behavior” in the region and “Israel’s integration into the region,” a possible reference to US efforts to expand the Abraham Accords by convincing Saudi Arabia to establish relations with Israel.

Washington’s contacts with Tehran also involved negotiations over the possible release of three US dual nationals taken hostage by Iran. Oman and Qatar have been acting as intermediaries, with some meetings taking place in Muscat.