As the new leadership prepares to take charge in Iran, the US has said Tehran will need to take a number of steps in order to abide by its international obligations, and Washington will wait for a response from the new government.
“There are a number of steps the leadership in Iran needs to take in order to abide by their international obligations.
The P5+1 is ready to meet Iran when it’s ready to respond substantively to the balanced proposal put forward in Almaty,” State Department spokesperson Jen Psaki said.
“The ball is in their court to respond with a substantively balanced proposal on how to move forward. These negotiations have been private. We are waiting for that and we’ll see what they present, and if they present something,” she noted.
“We haven’t seen a substantive response yet. The question is that what happens moving forward? We will see, but as you know, the Supreme Leader holds the nuclear portfolio and the leadership. We have not had expectations leading up to this election that it would change,” she said.
Psaki said the US looks forward to work with Hasan Rowhani, who emerged victorious in the recently concluded Iran polls, and hopes that he will fulfill the campaign promises like expanding personal freedom, releasing political prisoners and improving Iran’s relations with international community.
“But time will tell. We certainly congratulate the Iranian people for demonstrating the courage to make their voices heard in this election. Reports from Iran indicate that the voting was calm and orderly, and the indications of fraud that marked previous Iranian presidential elections were not immediately evident,” she said.
Noting that there are a number of dynamics that are at play in Iran’s political spectrum, including the role of the Supreme Leader, she said the US will wait and see how things move forward.