Snapback ‘too late’ to reverse despite quiet US-Iran talks
Months after US and Israeli strikes derailed the nuclear talks, Steve Witkoff confirmed his talks with the Iranians are ongoing.
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NEW YORK CITY — Nowhere in President Donald Trump’s nearly hour-long speech to the United Nations General Assembly was there mention of rekindling diplomacy with Iran, despite an acknowledgement from his top negotiator that talks are ongoing.
“We’re talking to them, and why wouldn’t we?,” Steve Witkoff said Wednesday at the Concordia summit in New York. “Our job is to solve things diplomatically.”
A return to direct negotiations with the United States was a key demand of Britain, France and Germany, the so-called E3 who last month invoked the snapback mechanism to reimpose UN sanctions that were lifted on Iran under the 2015 nuclear deal. Sanctions are set to take effect Sunday unless Iran agrees at the last minute to direct US talks and grants international inspectors full access to its nuclear sites.
