WASHINGTON (AP) – The Biden government says it is ready to enter into negotiations with Iran and world powers to discuss a return to the 2015 nuclear deal, in a strong repudiation of former President Donald Trump’s “maximum pressure campaign” , which sought to isolate the Islamic Republic.
The government also took two steps at the United Nations to restore politics to what it was before Trump withdrew from the deal in 2018. The combined actions were immediately criticized by Iranian hawks and raised concerns in Israel, which said it was committed to preventing Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons.
In addition to signaling on Thursday its willingness to talk to Iran, the government also reversed Trump’s determination that all UN sanctions against Iran had been restored. In addition, the strict restrictions on domestic travel by Iranian diplomats seconded to the United Nations have eased.
The State Department announced the moves following discussions between Secretary of State Antony Blinken and his British, French and German counterparts and while Biden is preparing to participate, albeit virtually, in his first major international events with world leaders.
The announcement came the day before Biden spoke to the leaders of the Group of Seven industrialized democracies and, at the end of the day, will speak at the annual Munich Security Conference. On both Fridays, Biden is expected to discuss his commitment to multilateral diplomacy and his desire to undo the damage that Trump’s positions may have caused in the past four years. It should address the US position on the 2015 multilateral nuclear deal with Iran, the war in Afghanistan and the economic and national security challenges posed by Russia and China.
In a statement, State Department spokesman Ned Price said the United States would accept an invitation from the European Union to attend a meeting of participants – the five permanent members of the UN Security Council and Germany, along with Iran – from the original nuclear deal.
“The United States would accept an invitation from the High Representative of the European Union to attend a meeting of P5 + 1 and Iran to discuss a diplomatic way to advance Iran’s nuclear program,” he said. The U.S. has not participated in a meeting with these participants since Trump withdrew from the deal and began stepping up sanctions against Iran.
This invitation has not yet been made, but one is expected soon, after Blinken’s talks with British, French and German foreign ministers.
In Iran, Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif said on Friday that the Biden government’s action meant that the United States recognized that the measures taken by Trump “were not legally valid”.
“We agree,” he added, urging the Biden government to lift American sanctions “imposed, reimposed or renamed by Trump. Then, we will immediately reverse all corrective measures. “
In Israel, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office expressed concern, saying he believed that “returning to the old agreement will open Iran’s path to a nuclear arsenal.” He said in a statement on Friday that he remains “committed to preventing Iran from obtaining nuclear weapons” and that he is in close contact with the United States on the matter.
Meanwhile, at the United Nations, the Biden administration notified the Security Council that it had withdrawn Trump’s invocation in September 2020 from the so-called snapback mechanism, according to which it claimed that all UN sanctions against Iran had been reinstated. Those sanctions included an expiring conventional arms embargo against Iran.
Trump’s determination was vigorously contested by almost every other UN member and left the U.S. isolated in the world body. Therefore, the reversal is unlikely to have any immediate practical effect except putting the United States back in line with the position of the vast majority of UN members, including some of its closest allies.
The US interim ambassador to the United Nations, Richard Mills, sent a letter to the Security Council saying that the United States “withdraw through this” three letters from the Trump administration that culminated in its September 19 announcement that the United States had UN sanctions were reimposed on Tehran due to its “significant non-compliance” with its obligations.
Trump’s decision was ignored by the rest of the Security Council and the world, and the overwhelming majority of 15-nation council members considered the action illegal because the U.S. was no longer a member of the nuclear deal.
At the same time, officials said the government has reduced the extremely strict travel limits for Iranian diplomats accredited to the United Nations. The Trump administration imposed severe restrictions, which essentially confined them to the UN mission and the UN headquarters building in New York.
The main Republican on the House Foreign Affairs Committee, Rep. Michael McCaul of Texas, quickly denounced the measures. “It is worrying that the Biden government is already making concessions in an apparent attempt to enter into the deal with Iran again,” he said. “The Trump administration has created influence for President Biden over Iran – we must not waste this progress.”
On Thursday, Blinken and his European colleagues asked Iran to allow the continuation of United Nations nuclear inspections and to stop nuclear activities that have no reliable civilian use. They warned that Iran’s actions could threaten delicate efforts to bring the U.S. back to the 2015 agreement and end sanctions that hurt the Iranian economy.
Iran is “playing with fire,” said German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas, who participated in negotiations on Thursday in Paris with his British and French colleagues. Blinken came in via videoconference.
Iran said it would stop part of the International Atomic Energy Agency’s inspections of its nuclear facilities next week, if the West does not implement its own commitments in the 2015 agreement. The agreement has been falling apart since Trump withdrew the United States from the agreement.
Blinken reiterated that “if Iran strictly fulfills its commitments … the United States will do the same,” according to a joint statement after Thursday’s meeting that reflected closer transatlantic positions on Iran since the president Joe Biden took over.
Diplomats noted “the dangerous nature of a decision to limit access to the IAEA and urge Iran to consider the consequences of such serious action, especially at this time of renewed diplomatic opportunity”.
They said Iran’s decision to produce up to 20% enriched uranium and metallic uranium “has no reliable civilian use”.
The 2015 agreement aims to prevent Iran from developing nuclear weapons. Tehran denies that it is seeking this arsenal.
“It is we who have kept this agreement alive for the past few years and now it is about supporting the United States in resuming the agreement,” Maas told reporters in Paris.
“The measures that have been taken in Tehran and can be taken in the next few days do not help much. They jeopardize the Americans’ way back to this agreement. The more pressure is exerted, the more difficult it will be politically to find a solution, ”he said.
Iran’s threats are “very worrying,” said British Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab, emphasizing the need “to re-engage diplomatically to contain Iran, but also to bring it back into compliance”
Diplomats also expressed concern about human rights violations in Iran and its ballistic missile program.
In Iran, President Hassan Rouhani expressed hope on Thursday that the Biden government will return to the deal and lift the U.S. sanctions that Washington has again imposed on Trump, according to state television.
Tehran has used its violations of the nuclear deal to pressure the remaining signatories – France, Germany, Britain, Russia and China – to provide Iran with further incentives to offset the crippling sanctions.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel and the President of the European Council spoke to Rouhani this week to try to end the diplomatic stalemate. The IAEA chief is due to travel to Iran this weekend to find a solution that will allow the agency to continue the inspections.
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Edith M. Lederer at the United Nations, Geir Moulson in Berlin and Angela Charlton and Masha Macpherson in Paris contributed.