A U.S. State Department official explained in a background briefing to reporters on Dec. 4 the U.S. view that the new documents Iran brought to Vienna for negotiations on re-implementing the JCPOA were so different from past proposals, that the United States had no choice but to reject further discussion. The official claimed that Iran was trying to buy time while pursuing nuclear weapon ambitions. [https://www.state.gov/briefing-with-senior-state-department-official-on-the-seventh-round-of-the-jcpoa-talks/]
“It meant continuing to accelerate their nuclear program in particularly provocative ways, and their latest provocation as reported by the IAEA only on Wednesday, i.e. while we were still in the middle of talks, was to prepare for the doubling of their production capacity of 20% enriched uranium at Fordow,” he said. “What getting ready meant was to continue to stonewall” the International Atomic Energy Agency.
