US is not going to 'waste time' on Iran nuke deal anymore, says American envoy to Tehran

US envoy to Iran Rob Malley has said that the Biden administration is "not going to waste time" on the Iran nuclear deal right now, Axios reported. The US envoy said that when one considers Iran's position on its own nuclear weapons, its support for Russia in the Russia Ukraine war by supplying armed drones to Moscow and the violent crackdown on anti-hijab protestors, one reaches the conclusion that attempts to revive the Iran nuclear deal will be a "waste of time". The comments were made by Rob Malley during an event organised by the Carnegie Endowment, which is a prominent American think-tank. 

"It is not on our agenda. We are not going to focus on something which is inert when other things are happening…and we are not going to waste our time on it… if Iran has taken the position it has taken," said the American envoy to Tehran, as per a report by Axios. According to an unnamed source mentioned by the Axios report, Iran's violent crackdown on protests and supply of weapons to Russia fundamentally changed the thought in White House.

Whilst the Biden administration has not officially stated that the nuclear talks with Iran are over, this statement by a Biden administration official comes close to admitting that the nuclear talks have stalled with no apparent path forward. In the Carnegie Endowment event, Malley divulged that the nuclear talks have witnessed no progress since September, when the EU's proposal was rejected by Iranian officials. After rejecting the EU proposal, Iranian officials apparently presented more demands. Malley said that from Washington DC's side, the focus is now on the regime's violent crackdown on Iranian protestors and Tehran's supply of armaments to Russia which are being used on the war front in Russia-Ukraine war. 

Military option on the table, to stop Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons?

Even if Iran now came back to the table to talk about the nuclear deal, America would be unwilling to go along with Tehran, said the unnamed source. The most consequential point Malley made was that America is willing to use military force to stop Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons. The unnamed source mentioned in the Axios report also backed up Malley's statement by suggesting that the US military is taking steps to ensure that the White House has a military option.