DUBAI (Reuters), -The United States must make a decision on whether to save Iran’s 2015 nuclear agreement with the world powers. This was in light of fears that negotiations in Vienna may collapse.

The last-minute demands of Russia, now at war with the West regarding its invasion in Ukraine, caused the two powers to suspend talks.

Hossein Amirabdollahian is the Iranian Foreign Minister. He will visit Russia Tuesday. A ministry spokesperson Saeed Khattibzadeh said this at a weekly press conference.

Iran’s Nour News affiliate, which is part of a top security organization, called the visit by the foreign minister to Moscow “a platform for serious and frank talks between two countries who have proven that they can work very closely together, decisively and with success on complex problems”.

Washington is open to diplomatic options to keep Iran from receiving a nuke weapon if there’s a blockade against Russia, Ned Price, State Department spokesperson said on Monday.

After Russia requested that the Russian government give clear guarantees to Iran about its trade relationship, Vienna talks were suspended last week. The sanctions against Moscow for their invasion of Ukraine are unacceptable according to Western powers. Washington denies this demand.

Khatibzadeh said, “We’re currently taking a rest from nuclear talks.” Washington still has some outstanding issues to resolve and we are not ready to announce an agreement.

According to the U.S. State Department, Washington believed that a possible deal was in place to recall 2015’s agreement. However, decisions must be taken at places like Tehran or Moscow.

Talks to end Iran’s uranium enrichment program could collapse, which could lead Tehran to develop nuclear weapons in a matter of minutes. This could spark a new war in the Middle East.

Tehran says it has never wanted atomic weapons.

VIENNA – STAYING

Tehran was still cautiously optimistic Monday when it came to assessing the prospects of the 11-month-old talks.

Ali Shamkhani secretary to the Supreme National Security Council (which makes decisions during the Vienna talks), said that they would remain at the Vienna talks “until our legal and rational demands are met.”

Washington, where 49 Republican U.S. Senators stated that they will not support a Nuclear Agreement with Iran.

In a statement they promised to do all in their power in order to reverse an agreement which does not allow Iran to build a nuclear bomb, limit its ballistic missile programme, and combat what they called Iran’s support for terrorist activities.

Qatari Foreign Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al-Thani stated that he discussed nuclear negotiations with Sergei Lavrov on Monday during his visit to Moscow, but did not elaborate.

Iran fired 12 missiles on Sunday at Erbil (capital of autonomous Iraqi Kurdish regions), in an attack that seemed to be targeting the United States as well as its allies.

Iranian state media claimed that Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps was responsible for the attack on Israeli “strategic centers” in Erbil. It is believed it was revenge against recent Israeli air strikes which killed Iranian military personnel.

Khatibzadeh claimed that Tehran repeatedly warned Iraqi authorities not to allow third parties, such as Kurdish militants or the United States, to attack Iran.

Iranian state television said Monday that security forces had stopped plans to sabotage the country’s Fordow nuclear plant by a group recruited by Israel. It also reported that several arrests had been made by the force.

Iran accuses Israel of attacking facilities related to its nuclear program and killing its nuclear scientists. It is widely believed that Israel has the Middle East’s sole nuclear arsenal. Israel denies or confirms the accusations.