In a bid to bring Iran towards complying with the nuclear treaty again while also retreating the steps taken by former President Donald Trump on the same front, the United States has said that it is ready to resume talks with the country.
Trump had withdrawn the US from the agreement in 2018 to prevent Iran from gaining nuclear explosives and arms.
The latest development came following US Secretary of State Antony Blinken’s meeting of Thursday with his European counterparts after which he highlighted President Biden’s stance of Washington returning to the nuclear agreement if Iran comes into full compliance with the terms mentioned under the accord, officially called as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA).
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However, after a European Union official offered to host an “informal meeting” between the P5+1, Iran included, the US state department expressed its willingness to join it. This marks the biggest step the Biden administration has taken on the Iran and nuclear deal matter publicly since it came to power.
Nevertheless, Tehran dint seems amused with the idea as Saeed Khatibzadeh, the spokesperson for the Iranian foreign ministry, tweeted on Friday that it isn’t P5+1 anymore as the US had reversed its steps.
“Reminder: Because of US withdrawal from JCPOA, there is NO P5+1. It is now ONLY Iran and P4+1. Remember, Trump left the room and tried to blow it up. Gestures are fine. But to revive P5+1, the US must Act: LIFT sanctions. We WILL respond. Here is the key sequence: #CommitActMeet,” he wrote.
After a year of Trump moving away from the deal, Iran started accelerating its enrichment of uranium, an entity that holds the potential to be transformed into nuclear bombs.
Iran has been blaming its breach of accord on the US and European powers, who it says have long been going back on its commitments. The nation said that it will come back to the deal but only when Washington and the European partners of the 2015 agreement make the first move.
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Tehran has also threatened to stop the mandatory inspections of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), which are due for February 21, if the countries don’t retrieve their steps and follow the commitments.
This move triggered warnings from the E3 group– Germany, Britain and France-and the US who said on Thursday that limiting the UN nuclear watchdog could be “dangerous”.
A joint statement released in Paris read, “If Iran comes back into strict compliance with its commitments under the JCPOA, the United States will do the same and is prepared to engage in discussions with Iran towards that end.”
To this, Mohammed Javad Zarif, the Iranian Foreign Minister, said that for Iran to return, Washington should take the first step.
“Instead of sophistry & putting onus on Iran, E3/EU must abide by own commitments & demand an end to Trump’s legacy of #EconomicTerrorism against Iran,” Zarif tweeted saying.
“Our remedial measures are a response to US/E3 violations. Remove the cause if you fear the effect. We’ll follow ACTION w/ (with) action,” he added.
On Friday, he posted another tweet that read, “US unconditionally & effectively lift all sanctions imposed, re-imposed or re-labeled by Trump. We will then immediately reverse all remedial measures. Simple: #CommitActMeet.”
The Foreign Minister has earlier too hinted at his willingness to hold talks with the US and other members of the agreement in order to revive it.
US State Department’s spokesperson said on Thursday that Washington “would accept an invitation from the European Union High Representative to attend a meeting of the P5+1 and Iran to discuss a diplomatic way forward on Iran’s nuclear program”.
The statement followed the deputy secretary-general for political affairs of European External Action Service, Enrique Mora’s tweet where he offered to host the talks between the 2 parties for an “informal meeting to discuss the way forward”.
