Iran: US Would Have to ‘Pay More’ for Nuclear Deal With More Restrictions

Earlier this week, reports were raised by Iranian Foreign Minister that a new nuclear agreement with the US was possible, and that it would include Iran accepting once-voluntary limitations on its civilian nuclear program.

On Wednesday, Iranian officials wanted to be clear that this proposal wasn’t for Iran to make a bunch of concessions for free, and that if the US wanted a deal above and beyond the P5+1 deal, they’d have to “pay more” to get it.

That likely marks the end of this proposal, as the US hasn’t been willing to pay at all, even for things agreed to under the existing deal, and they’ve always conditioned the demands on Iran as ultimatums, as opposed to offers for exchange.

This is probably bad news for the survival of the existing deal, as even though it’s still on the table the US isn’t coming back to it. Moreover, EU foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini told reporters that it is “becoming increasingly difficult” for Europe to remain committed to the deal.

The biggest obstacle to the deal’s survival is that the US has blocked sanctions relief, particularly from EU companies, and the EU has yet to ensure its companies are free to do business under the terms of the pact. Mogherini, however, faulted Iran’s reversible measures to increase their civilian program’s scope, which Iran has been very public about only doing to try to kickstart negotiations on the sanctions relief they were promised but never received.