Iran to present counter-proposal to US as nuclear talks hang by thread

DUBAI: Iran will soon hand a counter-proposal for a nuclear deal to the United States via Oman, Iranian foreign ministry spokesperson Esmaeil Baghaei said on Monday, in response to a U.S. offer that Tehran deems “unacceptable”.

The spokesperson also called on the international community to force nuclear disarmament upon Israel, Iran’s longstanding foe which Tehran says is trying to thwart the nuclear negotiations.

“The U.S. proposal is not acceptable to us. It was not the result of previous rounds of negotiations. We will present our own proposal to the other side via Oman after it is finalised. This proposal is reasonable, logical, and balanced,” Baghaei said.

“We must ensure before the lifting of sanctions that Iran will effectively benefit economically and that its banking and trade relations with other countries will return to normal.”

Reuters previously reported that Tehran was drafting a negative response to the U.S. proposal which was presented in late May. An Iranian diplomat said the U.S. offer failed to resolve differences over uranium enrichment on Iranian soil, the shipment abroad of Iran’s entire stockpile of highly enriched uranium and reliable steps to lift U.S. sanctions.

Baghaei said there was not yet any detail on the timing of a sixth round of nuclear talks between Tehran

and Washington.