US and Israeli flags. File photoWASHINGTON, Aug 21Relations between the United States and its main ally in the Middle East — Israel — are experiencing a period of tension amid progress in negotiations to restore the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) on the Iranian nuclear program, according to the Axios portal, citing people familiar with it. According to them, Israel actively advocates against restoring the nuclear deal. The progress made in recent weeks in negotiations on this issue makes the Israelis worry that the United States could make concessions to Tehran that are not in the interests of the Jewish state, Axios writes. In turn, White House officials over the past week have held a series of negotiations with by their Israeli counterparts to convince them that no new concessions to Iran have been made. Moreover, Washington still does not consider the restoration of the deal on the Iranian nuclear program inevitable, expressing only cautious optimism about the interim results of the negotiations in Vienna. «The deal is probably closer than two weeks ago, but the outcome of the negotiations remains uncertain, because differences remain. One way or another, the result does not look guaranteed,» a White House spokesman shared his concerns on condition of anonymity. Iran on Monday sent the head of European diplomacy Josep Borrell its response on the proposed text of the draft agreement on the restoration of the Iranian nuclear deal, and also expressed opinion on the «remaining issues» in the negotiations. The EU called Iran's response to the nuclear deal proposal constructive and said it was consulting with the United States on further steps. On Friday, CNN, citing a senior official in the US administration, reported that Iran, as part of the negotiations on the nuclear deal, had abandoned the demand to exclude the Islamic Guard Corps revolution (IRGC) from the list of terrorist organizations in the United States.Media: nuclear deal with Iran provides for a fine for the US in case of withdrawal Earlier, Russia's permanent representative to international organizations in Vienna, Mikhail Ulyanov, said that an agreement on the restoration of the JCPOA could be reached «literally in the coming days.» In 2015, the UK, Germany, China, Russia , the United States, France and Iran signed a nuclear deal — JCPOA on the Iranian nuclear program, which involved the lifting of sanctions in exchange for limiting Iran's nuclear program. In May 2018, the United States under Donald Trump withdrew from the JCPOA and reinstated sanctions against Tehran. In response, Iran announced a phased reduction in its obligations under the agreement, abandoning restrictions on nuclear research, centrifuges and the level of uranium enrichment. Negotiations were held in Vienna to renew the JCPOA and lift Washington's sanctions against Tehran. In December 2021, the parties reached an agreement on two draft agreements, in which the European side included the positions of Iran. Iranian spokesman Bagheri Kyani said the talks were going well, but US State Department spokesman Ned Price assessed the progress in Vienna as modest, urging Tehran to take the issue seriously. With the return of the parties to their capitals at the end of March, the negotiations were suspended. The Iranian Foreign Ministry blamed the US administration for this. The next round of JCPOA talks took place in Doha on June 29-30.
