US official says Iran drops some key demands in nuclear talks

John Kirby, the spokesperson for the US National Security Council, has confirmed that Iran dropped some key demands, allowing the two sides to make some progress.

“We are closer now than we were even just a couple of weeks ago because Iran made the decision to make some concessions,” Kirby said on August 24, according to Politico. 

But he cautioned that “a lot of gaps remain. We’re not there yet.”

The US and Iran are closing in on an agreement to restore the 2015 nuclear deal after almost 17 months of negotiations. The United States relayed to the EU on August 24 its much-awaited response to Iran’s comments on the draft proposal to restore the nuclear deal.

The spokesperson of the Iranian Foreign Ministry Nasser Kanaani confirmed that it had received the U.S. response via EU senior official Enrique Mora, who acts as a mediator and coordinator of the talks.

Iran still refuses to talk directly with the U.S. “Iran has started reviewing the US comments, and after the review, Tehran will submit its views to the coordinator,” Kanaani said.

The U.S. response is expected to focus on final sticking points related to Iranian demands for economic guarantees and sanctions relief. U.S. officials were tight-lipped about the substance of the response.