The United States still believes a return to a nuclear deal is the best path with Iran, Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Tuesday, amid a prolonged standoff in talks.

Facing criticism of the deal during an appearance before Congress, Blinken called the 2015 agreement imperfect but better than the alternatives.

"We continue to believe that getting back into compliance with the agreement would be the best way to address the nuclear challenge posed by Iran and to make sure that an Iran that is already acting with incredible aggression doesn't have a nuclear weapon," Blinken told the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.

"We've tested the other proposition, which was pulling out of the agreement, trying to exert more pressure," he said.

The result, he said, is that the "breakout time" for Iran to develop a nuclear bomb if it so chooses is "down to a matter of weeks" after the deal pushed it beyond a year.

Former president Donald Trump pulled out of the agreement reached under his predecessor Barack Obama and instead imposed sweeping sanctions, including trying to stop other nations from buying Iranian oil.

President Joe Biden's administration has been engaged in more than a year of indirect talks in Vienna on reviving the agreement, which had promised Iran a relief from sanctions in return for major restrictions on its nuclear work.

Both US and Iranian officials say that most points have been settled. Disputes appear to include Iran's demand that Biden undo Trump's designation of the clerical state's powerful Revolutionary Guards as a terrorist organization.

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Iran hails latest talks with Saudi Arabia as 'positive'
Tehran (AFP) April 25, 2022
Iran said Monday that the latest round of talks with its regional rival Saudi Arabia was "positive and serious" and voiced hope for further progress soon. Tehran and Riyadh, which severed diplomatic ties in 2016, held four rounds of talks in Iraq between April and September last year, with a fifth meeting last Thursday. "The fifth round of negotiations between Iran and Saudi Arabia in Baghdad ... was positive and serious and saw progress," foreign ministry spokesman Saeed Khatibzadeh told report ... read more