Washington still hopes to reach a deal with Tehran on Iran's nuclear program, U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said in a statement released Saturday by the State Department press service.
He noted that U.N. sanctions on Iran were reinstated at 8:00 p.m. Eastern Time (3:00 a.m. Bulgarian time on September 28). “President Trump made clear that diplomacy remains open – the deal remains the best outcome for both the Iranian people and the world. For this to happen, Iran must agree to direct negotiations, conducted in good faith, without delay or evasion,” Rubio said.
The UN Security Council previously rejected a draft resolution proposed by Russia and China that would have extended UN Security Council Resolution 2231, adopted in support of the Iran nuclear deal, by six months.
In 2015, Iran, the United Kingdom, Germany, China, Russia, the United States and France signed the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, ending a crisis that began in 2002 over Western accusations that Tehran was developing nuclear weapons.
However, in 2018, US President Donald Trump announced his withdrawal from the agreement and restored all US sanctions on Iran. In response, in 2020, Tehran announced a reduction in its commitments under the agreement and restricted access for IAEA inspectors to nuclear facilities.
However, the agency continued inspections until the escalation between Iran and Israel in June 2025.