WASHINGTON (AP) – The Biden administration says it is ready to join talks with Iran and world powers to discuss a return to the 2015 nuclear deal, in a strong repudiation of the “campaign maximum pressure “from former President Donald Trump trying to isolate the Islamic Republic.
The administration also took two steps at the United Nations with the goal of restoring politics to what it was before Trump withdrew from the deal in 2018.. The combined actions were immediately criticized by the Iranian hawks and sparked concern from Israel, which said it was committed to preventing Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons.
In addition to indicating on Thursday its willingness to talk to Iran, the administration also reversed Trump’s determination that all UN sanctions against Iran it had been restored. And it eased the strict restrictions on the national travel of Iranian diplomats to the United Nations.
The State Department announced the moves following discussions between Secretary of State Antony Blinken and his British, French and German counterparts and when Biden is preparing to participate, albeit virtually, in its first international events. important with world leaders.
The announcement came a day before Biden spoke to the leaders of the Group of Seven Industrialized Democracies and later during the day will lead the Munich Annual Security Conference. Both Fridays, Biden is expected to discuss his commitment to multilateral diplomacy and his desire to undo the damage Trump’s positions may have caused over the previous four years. It is expected to address the U.S. position on Iran’s 2015 multilateral nuclear deal, 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 , together with Iran – in the original nuclear agreement.
“The United States would accept an invitation from the high representative of the European Union to attend a P5 + 1 meeting and Iran to discuss a diplomatic path to follow on Iran’s nuclear program,” he said. The U.S. has not attended a meeting of these participants since Trump withdrew from the deal and began steadily increasing sanctions against Iran.
This invitation has not yet been issued, but one is expected shortly, following Blinken’s talks with British, French and German foreign ministers.
In Iran, Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif said on Friday that the Biden administration’s action meant the United States had recognized that the moves made under Trump “had no legal validity.”
“We agree,” he added, urging the Biden administration to lift U.S. sanctions “imposed, re-imposed or re-labeled by Trump. Then we will immediately reverse all corrective measures.”
In Israel, the office of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu expressed concern and said it believed that “returning to the old agreement will pave the way for Iran to a nuclear arsenal.” He said in a statement on Friday that he remains “committed to preventing Iran from receiving nuclear weapons” and that he is in close contact with the United States in this regard.
Meanwhile, at the United Nations, the Biden administration notified the Security Council that it had withdrawn Trump’s September 2020 invocation of the so-called recovery mechanism under which it maintained that all sanctions had been re-imposed UN against Iran. These sanctions included a conventional arms embargo against Iran that was to expire.
Trump’s determination had been vigorously discussed by almost every other member of the United Nations and had left the United States isolated from the world body. Therefore, the investment is unlikely to have any immediate practical effect other than to bring the United States back into line with the position of the vast majority of UN members, including some of its closest allies.
U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Richard Mills sent a letter to the Security Council saying the United States “withdraws” three letters from the Trump administration that culminated in its Sept. 19 announcement. that the United States had re-imposed UN sanctions on Tehran because of its “significant breach” of its obligations.
Trump’s move had been ignored by the rest of the Security Council and the world, and the vast majority of council members in 15 countries had called the action illegal because the United States was no longer a member of the nuclear deal. .
At the same time, officials said the administration has reduced the extremely strict limits on the travel of Iranian diplomats accredited to the United Nations. The Trump administration had imposed severe restrictions, which basically limited them to their UN mission and the UN headquarters building in New York.
The top Republican on the House Foreign Affairs Committee, Texas Representative Michael McCaul, quickly denounced the steps. “It’s about the Biden administration already making concessions in an apparent attempt to re-enter the flawed Iranian deal,” he said. “The Trump administration pushed President Biden into Iran: we should not waste that progress.”
Earlier Thursday, Blinken and his European counterparts had urged Iran to allow UN nuclear inspections to continue and stop nuclear activities that do not have credible civilian use. They warned that Iran’s actions could threaten delicate efforts to return the United States to the 2015 deal and end sanctions that would harm the Iranian economy.
Iran is “playing with fire,” said German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas, who took part in talks in Paris on Thursday with his British and French counterparts. Blinken had joined by video conference.
Iran has said it will suspend part of the International Atomic Energy Agency’s nuclear facility inspections if the West fails to meet its own commitments under the 2015 agreement. ‘has been undone since Trump withdrew the United States from the deal.
Blinken reiterated that “if Iran strictly fulfills its commitments again … the United States will do the same,” according to a joint statement after Thursday’s meeting that reflected transatlantic positions closer to Iran since President Joe Biden took office.
Diplomats noted “the dangerous nature of a decision to limit access to the IAEA and urged Iran to consider the consequences of such serious action, especially at this time of renewed diplomatic opportunity.”
They said Iran’s decision to produce uranium enriched up to 20% and that uranium metal has no “credible” civilian use.
The 2015 agreement aims to prevent Iran from developing nuclear weapons. Tehran denies it is looking for that arsenal.
“We are the ones who have kept this agreement alive in recent years and now it’s about supporting the United States in returning to the agreement,” Maas told reporters in Paris.
“The measures that have been taken in Tehran and that can be taken in the coming days are far less useful. They endanger the path of the Americans towards this agreement. The more pressure is exerted, the more difficult it will be politically. find a solution, ”he said.
Iran’s threats are “very worrying,” said British Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab, who stressed the need “to re-engage diplomatically to curb Iran, but also to comply again.” .
Diplomats also expressed concern over human rights violations in Iran and its ballistic missile program.
In Iran, President Hassan Rouhani on Thursday expressed hope that the Biden administration will meet the deal and lift U.S. sanctions that Washington re-imposed under Trump, according to state television.
Tehran has used its violations of the nuclear deal to pressure other signatories (France, Germany, Britain, Russia and China) to provide more incentives to Iran to offset the crippling sanctions.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel and European Council President have spoken this week with Rouhani to try to end the diplomatic position. The IAEA chief is scheduled to travel to Iran this weekend to find a solution that will allow the agency to continue inspections.
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Edith M. Lederer at the United Nations, Geir Moulson in Berlin and Angela Charlton and Masha Macpherson in Paris collaborated.