The Biden administration is taking steps to rejoin the nuclear deal with Iran, with officials set to participate in high-level talks with signatories to the 2015 Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) in Vienna next week.
The US and Iran are not expected to meet in person, although government officials have said they are open to direct talks.
The Vienna meeting marks the most forward move for the Biden team, which will confer with European, Russian and Chinese counterparts on what steps the US can take to achieve a “mutual return” for both America and Iran.
The meeting is likely to be viewed intensively from Capitol Hill, where hundreds of lawmakers have agreed to a handful of letters to the president and secretary of state Antony Blink
Antony BlinkenKerry says US is hopeful it can work with China on climate Blinken withdraws sanctions against ICC officials imposed by Trump Biden holds first phone call with president of Ukraine MORE about their concerns about contacts with Iran.
The Foreign Affairs Committee of the House headed by the chairman Gregory Meeks
Gregory Weldon Meeks Iran Talks Delicate Dance For Biden Team House Panel Advances Bill To Revoke War Permit 2002 Bipartisan House Bill Would Revoke Decades-Old War Permits MORE (DN.Y.), tweeted support before the meeting.
“This is an important, but preparatory step. Hard and smart diplomacy in close cooperation with our European allies and regional partners is the best way to prevent Iran from developing a nuclear weapon and to restore full compliance with the JCPOA, ”he said.
President Biden
Joe Biden Lawmakers say resolving a border crisis is up to Biden Trump calls on Republicans to boycott companies amid controversy over the voting bill. White House: GOP has ‘struggled to formulate a reason’ to oppose infrastructure plan MORE has made re-joining the deal a foreign policy priority for his government. He appointed Robert Malley as the US Special Envoy to Iran, a key member of the negotiating team that brokered the 2015 agreement.
The deal, negotiated during the Obama administration while Biden was vice president, placed significant but temporary restrictions on Iran’s nuclear capabilities in exchange for sanctions relief from the US and the international community.
Critics argue that it did not go far enough to prevent Iran from ever getting a nuclear weapon and that it did not tackle a range of malicious activities by the Islamic Republic, including its ballistic missile programs, support for proxy forces in the Middle East, support for terrorism and human rights violations.
“The United States must not relinquish the power that brings Iran back to the negotiating table without confronting both Iran’s nuclear and non-nuclear activities that must be halted,” 140 House Republicans wrote in a letter to President. Biden in February, against a return to the JCPOA.
The former Trump administration re-imposed sanctions on Iran when it withdrew from the deal in May 2018, adding a series of other punitive measures as part of a “maximum pressure campaign” to force Tehran to the negotiating table for a stronger deal.
Tehran claims its nuclear program is peaceful, but nuclear observers say the Islamic Republic is probably just months away from building a bomb. Iran began to increase its uranium enrichment in 2019, breaking the terms of the JCPOA in retaliation for the sanctions imposed by the then Trump administration.
The Biden team and Iran found themselves in a ‘who goes first’ conundrum over the demands of both sides.
The US is concerned about Iran’s enrichment of uranium to 20 percent, well above the deal’s 3.67 percent limit. Uranium is considered a weapon quality when it is enriched to about 90 percent.
The Biden team has called on Iran to reverse its uranium enrichment before sanctions are relaxed. Tehran calls this a non-starter.
The Vienna meeting will seek to establish a roadmap of steps both sides can take to bring them back to compliance with the deal, including identifying “sanctions lift and nuclear implementation measures,” according to a statement released by the US on Friday JCPOA Signatories – China, France, Germany, Russia, United Kingdom, and Iran.
Jalina Porter, the State Department’s chief deputy spokesman, said in a briefing with reporters that the US does not want to prejudge any specific sanctions that should be lifted, but that measures to ease sanctions will be discussed at the meeting. .
“We are going to talk about nuclear steps Iran would have to take to return to compliance with the JCPOA and we will not prejudge specific sanctions, but we will certainly say that sanction relief measures that the US should take to return to that compliance, we’ll be up for discussion, ”she said.
Naysan Rafati, senior Iran analyst at the International Crisis Group, said both Washington and Tehran agree to return to the JCPOA, but the path to mutual compliance will not be easy.
“The discussions are likely to meet with challenges regarding the scope and sequence of both nuclear relief and sanctions relief, as well as skepticism in both Washington and Tehran,” he said.
Democratic and Republican lawmakers have sought to close the gap in their disagreements over the usefulness of the JCPOA as part of their efforts to promote a united front in their opposition to Iran’s alleged hunt for a nuclear weapon and destabilizing actions in the region .
Last month, 40 senators from both sides of the aisle signed a letter to the president urging the use of all diplomatic and economic tools to prevent Iran from developing the ability to get a nuclear weapon.
“Iran should have no doubts about US policy. Democrats and Republicans may have tactical differences, but we are united in preventing an Iranian nuclear weapon and tackling the wide range of illegal Iranian behavior. We look forward to working with you to achieve these goals, ”wrote the senators.
Likewise, a bipartisan letter signed by 140 MPs called for addressing the threat from a nuclear-armed Iran and its other troubling actions.
“As Democrats and Republicans from across the political spectrum, we are united in preventing an Iranian nuclear weapon and tackling the wide range of illegal Iranian behavior,” they wrote.
Lawmakers are also concerned about sanctions against Iran without meaningful verification that it has taken steps to bring itself back into compliance with the JCPOA.
State Secretary Antony Blinken answered in the affirmative to Rep. Brad Sherman
Bradley (Brad) James Sherman Iranian talks stage delicate dance for Biden team Biden can build on Pope Francis’ visit to Iraq. (D-Calif.) At a hearing last month that the US would not make any concessions to meet with Iran, nor lift sanctions until Iran is demonstrably in full compliance with the JCPOA, or on a negotiated path to full compliance.
Rep. Michael McCaul
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“We are determined to discuss the take-off, not the landing across the board – but yes, especially when it comes to Iran,” said Blinken.