Iran and U.S. reaffirm commitment to diplomacy at U.N., but gap on a nuclear deal remains wide

UNITED NATIONS — Iran and the United States reaffirmed their commitments to diplomacy at a contentious meeting of the U.N.

UNITED NATIONS — Iran and the United States reaffirmed their commitments to diplomacy at a contentious meeting of the U.N. Security Council on Tuesday, but the gap between the Trump administration and the Islamic Republic on a nuclear deal remains wide and deep.

The sixth round of negotiations between Washington and Tehran had been scheduled for soon after Israel’s 12-day war with Iran in June, during which the U.S. joined Israel in bombing Iranian nuclear sites. The talks were canceled, and in September Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, rejected any direct nuclear negotiations with the United States.

But Iran’s U.N. Ambassador Amir Saeid Iravani told the Security Council that “Iran remains fully committed to principled diplomacy and genuine negotiations.” And said it’s now up to France, Britain and the U.S. “to reverse course and take concrete, credible steps to restore trust and confidence.”

He said Iran remains committed to the core principles of the 2015 nuclear deal aimed at preventing Tehran from developing nuclear weapons, in which Iran had agreed to limit its nuclear program in exchange for the lifting of sanctions.

President Donald Trump in 2018 pulled the U.S. out of the agreement between Iran and the five permanent members of the Security Council, plus Germany.