Iran's chief nuclear negotiator Ali Bagheri Kani (right) and members of his delegation are seen leaving the Coburg Palais, venue of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) meeting aimed at reviving the Iran nuclear deal, in Vienna on Dec 3, 2021. (JOE KLAMAR / AFP)
TEHRAN/Washington – Iran's chief nuclear negotiator Ali Bagheri Kani said Thursday that an agreement is within reach in the ongoing talks over Tehran's nuclear program provided that necessary grounds are prepared, semi-official Mehr news agency reported.
The United States and Israel increased pressure on Iran, with Israel's visiting defense chief raising the issue of joint military readiness to be able to halt Iran's nuclear aspirations, if necessary.
"A meeting of the joint commission of the Iranian nuclear deal was held and various parties, including Iran, expressed their views on the future course of the talks," Bagheri Kani told reporters after Thursday's meeting.
Earlier in the day, the new round of negotiations between Iran and other remaining parties to the deal, formally known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), continued to find mechanisms for the revival of the nuclear deal.
During the meeting, Iran stressed that it will continue the path of dialogue based on its own positions and views, which it has already stated, and it has a serious will in this regard, said Bagheri Kani.
Asked whether Iran received "reasonable and logical" answers to its proposals put forward last week, he said this issue should be followed up in the working group meetings in the following days.
"The fact that the parties have a serious will to continue the talks shows that different sides want to get closer to each other," the Iranian diplomat noted.
READ MORE: Official: US, Israel to discuss military drills for Iran scenario
Reuters exclusively reported that Thursday's US-Israeli agenda was expected to include discussions about possible military exercises that would prepare for a worst-case scenario to destroy Iran's nuclear facilities should diplomacy fail and if their nations' leaders request it.
The fact that the parties have a serious will to continue the talks shows that different sides want to get closer to each other.
Ali Bagheri Kani, Chief nuclear negotiator, Iran
US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said at the start of the meeting with his Israeli counterpart, Benny Gantz, that Iran had failed to offer constructive diplomatic engagement in talks that President Joe Biden had hoped would revive a 2015 nuclear deal abandoned by his predecessor, Donald Trump.
Austin said Biden was "prepared to turn to other options" if the current American policy on Iran fails.
"We are completely aligned in our commitment to preventing Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon. This is a national security interest of the United States and Israel and the world," Austin said.
Gantz described Iran as "the biggest threat to the global and regional peace and stability." After meeting Austin, he held talks with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken.
Iran denies seeking nuclear weapons, saying it wants to master nuclear technology for peaceful purposes. But sweeping demands by Iran's new, hardline government in talks have heightened suspicions in the West that Iran is playing for time while advancing its nuclear program.
ALSO READ: Iran nuclear talks break; Europe, US dismayed by Tehran's stance
With the 2015 deal's nuclear benefits now badly compromised, some Western officials say there is little time left before the foundation of the deal is damaged beyond repair. Under the accord, Iran curbed its nuclear program in return for relief from economic sanctions.
DETERRENCE
The Pentagon declined to comment on the Reuters report, which also disclosed an Oct 25 briefing by Defense Department officials to US National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan on the full range of military options to ensure that Iran would not be able to produce a nuclear weapon.
"I know there's interest in a certain Reuters report," Pentagon spokesman John Kirby told a news briefing. "I will tell you this: We routinely conduct exercises and training with our Israeli counterparts and I have nothing to announce to or speak to or point to or speculate about today."
In this May 24, 2021 file photo, the flag of Iran waves in front of the International Center building with the headquarters of the International Atomic Energy Agency, IAEA, in Vienna, Austria. (FLORIAN SCHROETTER / AP)
State Department spokesman Ned Price told reporters he would not want to "speak to contingency planning" if diplomacy isn't viable in the short term.
Drills by the US and Israel could address calls by Dennis Ross, a former senior US official and Middle East expert, and others to signal openly to Tehran that the United States and Israel remain serious about preventing it from obtaining a nuclear weapon.
"Biden needs to disabuse Iran of the notion that Washington will not act militarily and will stop Israel from doing so," Ross wrote last month.
Ross also suggested the US could signal a willingness to give the Israelis the US military's bunker-busting Massive Ordnance Penetrator, a 30,000-pound (13,600-kg) bomb.