US not going to 'waste time’ on nuclear deal right now

He claimed the US is still committed to diplomacy to constrain Iran’s nuclear program but has turned its attention away from efforts on the nuclear deal amid sweeping protests in Iran and transfers of weapons from Tehran to Moscow for the war in Ukraine.

Speaking at an event hosted by the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace Monday, Malley said “several times we came very close” to an agreement to rejoin the deal, which the US quit under the Trump administration.

Iran has increasingly breached its commitments to the deal and has developed its nuclear program, he further claimed. “Each time we came close, Iran came up with one new extraneous demand that derailed the talks."

“That’s where we were late August, early September and there has been no movement since then,” he said, adding, “nothing’s happening on the nuclear deal so we’re not going to spend our time, waste our time on it if nothing’s going to happen.”

“We’re going to spend our time where we can be useful,” he said, including supporting the protesters in Iran and trying to stop the transfer of weapons from Tehran to Moscow for use in the war in Ukraine.

Despite the standstill on efforts over the nuclear deal, Malley defended the administration’s continued efforts to restore the agreement, arguing that the Trump administration tried the alternative and “it didn’t work.”

“We make no apology for having tried and still trying to do everything we can to prevent Iran from acquiring a nuclear weapon. Again, a preference for diplomacy if that can work, with tools of pressure, sanctions in particular. But also keeping very much all options on the table in case diplomacy were to fail,” Malley said.

“We will use other tools, and in last resort, a military option if necessary, to stop Iran from acquiring a nuclear weapon,” he claimed.

He also said that the administration has continued to pursue its policy priorities regardless of the negotiations on the deal.

“There is nothing now that we are not doing because we are thinking of the potential of a potential nuclear deal in the future,” he said, adding “we’re not tying our hands because of this hope that someday there’ll be a deal.”

The talks to salvage the agreement kicked off in Vienna in April last year, months after Joe Biden succeeded Trump, with the intention of examining Washington's seriousness in rejoining the deal and removing anti-Iran sanctions. Despite notable progress, the US' indecisiveness and procrastination caused multiple interruptions in the marathon talks.

After the unilateral withdrawal of the United States from the JCPOA in 2018 and imposing the unprecedented sanctions, Iran took steps away from the JCPOA while it announced it will reverse course and will fully abide by the deal once the other parties live up to their commitments and the illegal US sanctions imposed are fully lifted. Iran has strongly rejected the western countries' futile attempt to separate the issue of lifting illegitimate sanctions and Iran's cooperation with the IAEA.

Iran also stopped voluntarily implementing the Additional Protocol which allows unannounced IAEA inspections as part of the steps away from the deal known as the remedial measures.

Iran's actions come in accordance with the JCPOA from which it has not withdrawn despite all the illegal moves by the western countries in violation of the spirit of the deal.

Tehran stresses that its nuclear program is for peaceful purposes and there is a Fatwa by the Leader of the Islamic Revolution of Iran which bans any possession and use of weapons of mass destruction.