Iran says studies EU-proposed informal meeting with U.S.
Iran is studying a European Union proposal for an informal meeting between current members of Tehran’s 2015 nuclear deal and the United States, but has yet to respond to it, Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi said on Saturday.
Seyed Abbas Araghchi says there is evidence that the administration of new US President Joe Biden is willing to return to the Iran nuclear deal 2015, officially known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA).
"There seems to be an incentive in the team of the new US President Joe Biden to return to the Iran nuclear deal," Araghchi stated.
He said that one of the slogans of Biden and his team before the 2020 United States presidential election was to return to many international agreements, including the JCPOA because the agreement is one of the achievements of the US Democrats.
The Iranian diplomat added "Many of those who were on Obama's negotiating team are also on Biden's team today, and it is natural that they have an incentive to return to the JCPOA as there is a view that Trump's maximum pressure policy has failed."
Iran's deputy foreign minister said, "Trump's campaign to put maximum pressure on Iran, thinking that the US withdrawal from the JCPOA could bring more benefits to the White House, failed and its goals were not achieved. Biden now believes that these policies need to change."
Under its former president Donald Trump, though, the US left the nuclear deal and reinstated the sanctions. Washington then pressured its allies in the pact -- the UK, France, and Germany -- into abiding by the economic bans and stopping their trade with Tehran.
The White House said on Friday the United States plans to take no additional actions in response to pressure from Iran before potential talks with Tehran and major powers about returning to the deal.
White House spokeswoman Jen Psaki said the EU had floated the idea of a conversation among Iran and the six major powers that struck the nuclear accord. “The Europeans have invited us and ... it is simply an invitation to have a conversation, a diplomatic conversation.”
The head of the International Atomic Energy Agency, Rafael Grossi, arrived in Tehran on Saturday, weeks after Iran’s hardline parliament set a deadline of Feb. 23 for Washington to lift the sanctions, or Tehran would halt snap IAEA inspections.
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