NEW YORK, Sept 18 (Reuters) - A detainee swap that secured the release of five Americans held in Iran on Monday does not change Washington's adversarial relationship with Tehran, although the door remains open for diplomacy over the Islamic Republic's nuclear program, a senior administration official said.
Even so, they said the door for diplomacy over Iran's nuclear program was not entirely shut.
It was unclear if the official meant to deny any indirect talks, or if he was deliberately leaving the door open for them.
After taking office in January 2021, U.S. President Joe Biden tried to revive the 2015 Iran nuclear deal under which Iran had restricted its nuclear program in return for relief from U.S., European Union and U.N. sanctions.
However, earlier this year Washington and Tehran began exploring what analysts describe as "understandings" - which Washington has never acknowledged - to lower tensions over nuclear and other issues.
Persons:
Washington, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, Joe Biden, Donald Trump, Humeyra Pamuk, Stephen Coates
Organizations:
Biden, The U.S, United Nations General Assembly, Union, U.S, Republican, Iran, Thomson
Locations:
Iran, Tehran, United States, Qatar, The, Yemen, New York, U.S, Washington, South Korea, Doha