US paving the way towards diplomacy with Iran. The US special envoy for Iran told Al Jazeera that the Biden administration is prioritising diplomacy in its ties with Tehran, underlining that restoring the Iran nuclear deal is in both countries’ “shared interests.”
Robert Malley said it is still doable to restore the nuclear accord, formally known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), in an interview on Thursday.
“We’re fully committed to a mutual return to compliance with the JCPOA,” Malley said. “We think there’s still time to do it if Iran comes back and says they’re prepared to roll up their sleeves and do it, too.”
His remarks come as nuclear talks began in Vienna on Thursday, with a US delegation led by Vice President Joe Biden scheduled to attend the talks over the weekend.
Malley and his team have been contacting the Iranians through intermediaries from nations that are still signatories to the 2015 accord, including the United Kingdom, Russia, China, France, and Germany.
Malley also reaffirmed Washington’s request for direct talks with Iran, telling Reuters that US negotiators are ready to meet with Iranian diplomats “at any time and in any place.”
As US paving way towards diplomacy with Iran, Iran had earlier rejected that offer, claiming that the US, which had pulled out of the deal in 2018 under then-President Donald Trump, was no longer a party to it. As part of the JCPOA commission, Tehran is having negotiations with the deal’s signatories.
“We’re prepared to meet with them face-to-face,” Malley said. “We think it’s far superior to indirect negotiations. And we’re dealing with something this complex, with so much mistrust, with so much potential for misunderstanding.”
Trump unilaterally withdrew from the JCPOA in 2018 and started a “maximum pressure” campaign of sanctions against the Iranian economy that his successor Joe Biden has continued to enforce.
Tehran has been escalating its programme in response to Washington’s withdrawal from the pact.
Iranian authorities have stated that they want all sanctions withdrawn immediately, while the US administration has called for a mutual return to compliance, which would include the lifting of nuclear-related sanctions and a reduction in Iran’s nuclear programme.
The Biden administration issued fresh penalties on Tuesday, claiming human rights violations, against two Iranian security institutions and many officials associated to them.
Iran’s Foreign Ministry spokesman, Saeed Khatibzadeh, blasted the move, saying on Twitter that “doubling down on sanctions won’t produce leverage—and is anything but seriousness & goodwill.”
The only way for Iran to gain sanctions relief, according to White House spokesperson Jen Psaki, is for it to return to nuclear compliance with the JCPOA.
Malley echoed this sentiment, saying the US was “willing to get back into the deal as fast as possible – as soon as Iran is.”
“Then we would lift all of the sanctions that are inconsistent with the JCPOA. But in the meantime, we can’t stand by and not be prepared for a world in which Iran may be choosing to delay the programme, [and] try to build more leverage,” he said.
“We obviously have to respond. And so, that’s what we’re doing. We’re preparing ourselves for that outcome.”
