U.S. says Iran is 'inching toward' talks for a new nuclear deal hours after Iran says it's ignoring the old one

Iran is getting more nuclear by the day, but the U.S. isn't changing course.

On Thursday, Iran announced it was officially ignoring the 2015 international nuclear deal that put limits on its enrichment capabilities. It's an especially disturbing revelation considering the heightening tensions between the U.S. and Iran, but just hours later, U.S. Defense Secretary Mark Esper said the middle eastern country is only "inching toward" talks with the U.S. to create a new deal.

The Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action united world leaders in an attempt to curb Iran's nuclear weapons capabilities, but it lost most of its teeth when President Trump pulled the U.S. out of the plan in 2018. His administration has since been trying to orchestrate a new deal — something that has become increasingly necessary as Iran continues to reject enrichment limits. The country most recently revealed Thursday it is working on advanced centrifuges that would speed up uranium enrichment, per The Military Times. Another announcement from Iran's atomic energy agency is expected Saturday, The Washington Post reports.

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That upcoming announcement probably won't be good for the U.S. considering Esper's Friday comments. "It seems in some ways that Iran is inching toward that place where we could have talks and hopefully it'll play out that way," Esper said of the possibility of a new nuclear deal. Trump is committed to applying "maximum pressure" through sanctions in the meantime, he continued — a form of retaliation that obviously hasn't stopped Iran so far.