Comments from an unnamed State Dept official
- US still has serious differences with Iran on possible resumption of compliance with nuclear deal
- US would not be going back to next round of nuclear talks if it did not think a deal was possible, but we are not there yet
- Time is not a positive factor, this process won't be open indefinitely
- US still hopes Iran will extend its technical understandings with IAEA, would be an issue of real concern if they didn't
- If differences can't be bridged in the foreseeable future, US will need to regroup and consider the path forward
The new deadline is mid-August, which is the inauguration of Iran's new president. The tone in these comments has deteriorated from a month ago, when the US sounded like it thought a deal was nearly done.
The oil market is taking it all in stride and hasn't moved on these comments.
