Iran rejects informal nuclear talks with US and EU, insists Biden drop sanctions first

WASHINGTON – Iran on Sunday turned down an invitation from world powers that signed the 2015 nuclear deal to discuss the regime’s possible return to the negotiating table, a significant setback in the Biden administration’s attempts to revive the deal .

“Given the recent actions and statements of the United States and three European powers, Iran does not see this as the time to hold an informal meeting with these countries, as suggested by the EU’s foreign policy chief,” said Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Saeed Khatibzadeh. , according to Tehran state media.

The White House said on Sunday that the Biden administration was disappointed with Iran’s decision to skip the informal meeting with the US and the other signatories to the 2015 pact – France, Germany, the UK, Russia and China.

“While we are disappointed with Iran’s response, we remain ready to re-engage in meaningful diplomacy to achieve a mutual return to compliance with JCPOA commitments,” a senior official told NBC News.

“We will consult with our P5 + 1 partners on the best way forward,” the official said, referring to the five permanent members of the UN Security Council and Germany.

The Biden administration has previously said it wants to revive the nuclear deal, but will not suspend sanctions until Tehran is back in compliance. Tehran has refused to negotiate as long as US sanctions are in place.

The 2015 Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), initiated by the Obama administration, lifted sanctions against Iran for paralyzing its economy and cut its oil exports by about half. In exchange for billions of dollars in sanctions, Iran agreed to dismantle part of its nuclear program and open its facilities to more extensive international inspections.

The US and its European allies believe Iran has ambitions to develop an atomic bomb. Tehran has denied that allegation.

In 2018, then-President Donald Trump made a campaign promise, pulling the United States out of the JCPOA, calling it the “ worst deal ever. ” After Washington abandoned the groundbreaking nuclear deal, other signatories to the pact have sought to keep the deal alive.

In a letter released by Sunda, Republican senators warned President Joe Biden not to rejoin the 2015 nuclear deal because it is “fraught with problems,” instead pushing for a more comprehensive deal.

“ The scope of any agreement with Iran should cover the full range of Iranian behavior, including regional terrorism, ballistic missiles and the detention of US citizens. It is no surprise that Iran’s proxies support Assad’s ongoing atrocities in Syria, our troop attacks and diplomats in Iraq have brought Lebanon to the brink of collapse, threaten our Israeli and Gulf partners and contribute to the world’s worst humanitarian disaster in Yemen wrote Sens. Jim Inhofe from Oklahoma, Jim Risch from Idaho, Marco Rubio from Florida, Pat Toomey from Pennsylvania and Rob Portman from Ohio in a joint letter to Biden.

Despite criticism of the ‘maximum pressure’ campaign, it cannot be denied that it has inflicted a price on Iran for its malicious activities and now it gives your government the power to get a better deal from Iran. We know Iran cannot be trusted to keep its commitments, ”wrote the senators.

Washington’s tense relationship with Tehran got worse several times under the Trump administration.

Last year, the US carried out an airstrike that killed Qasem Soleimani, Iran’s top military commander. Iran retaliated by firing at least a dozen missiles from its territory on January 7 at two military bases in Iraq that house US troops and coalition forces.

A day later, Trump said from the White House that Iran “appeared to resign” and warned Tehran to give up its nuclear ambitions.

After the deadly US strike, Iranian Secretary of State Mohammad Javad Zarif said the Trump administration had committed an “act of terrorism”.

Soleimani’s death prompted the regime to further reduce compliance with the international nuclear pact. In January 2020, Iran said it would no longer limit its uranium enrichment capacity or nuclear research.

In October, the United States unilaterally imposed UN sanctions on Tehran through a snapback process, which other members of the UN Security Council previously said Washington does not have the authority to implement as it pulled out of the nuclear deal in 2018.

A month later, a top Iranian scientist was murdered near Tehran, prompting the Iranian government to claim that Israel, with US support, was behind the attack.

During the summer of 2019, a series of attacks in the Persian Gulf set the US and Iran on the road to greater confrontation.

In June, US officials said an Iranian surface-to-air missile had shot down a US military surveillance drone over the Strait of Hormuz. Iran said the plane was over its territory. That strike came a week after the US blamed Iran for attacks on two oil tankers in the Persian Gulf region and after four tankers were attacked in May.

The US imposed new sanctions in June on Iranian military leaders blamed for shooting down the drone. The measures also aimed to block funding for Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Khamenei.

Tensions rose again in September 2019 when the US blamed Iran for strikes in Saudi Arabia at the world’s largest processing plant and oil field.

That attack forced the kingdom to halve its production activities, triggering the largest spike in crude oil prices in decades and renewed concerns about another war in the Middle East. Iran claims it was not behind the attacks.