Iran could be ready to develop a nuclear weapon in a matter of weeks, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken warned on Monday.
In an interview with NBC, Blinken said that Iran could soon enrich enough uranium to develop a nuclear weapon if it continues to violate the 2015 nuclear deal signed with the world powers.
"President Biden said that if Iran returns to compliance with its obligations under the agreement, we would do the same thing," he added, stressing that the US is ready to discuss with its partner a stronger deal.
"We would work with them to get something that is longer and stronger, and also deal with some of the other challenges that Iran poses, whether it’s its missile program, whether it’s its destabilizing activities in the region."
The Trump administration withdrew from the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action in 2018 and reimposed sanctions that have crippled the Iranian economy, and Tehran has responded by gradually increasing its enrichment of uranium beyond what is permitted under the deal.
Meanwhile, Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif told the Jamaran News website that the recent statements of the new US administration about returning to the nuclear deal “do not mean anything."
He further called on the US administration to stop imposing conditions on Tehran and to implement his country’s conditions for returning to the agreement.
Also, Foreign Ministry spokesperson Saeed Khatibzadeh said during his weekly press briefing that the process of coming back to the Iranian nuclear program has its own stages.
"Our people's funds must be available, oil must be easily sold, the money of it must return (to Iran), and the insurance must be provided. Whenever they do this, we will respond," he noted.
