Sun Sentinel Palm Beach Edition
US ready to return to Iran nuke deal
Biden administration pushes to undo withdrawal, eases restrictions on domestic travel of Iranian diplomats.
WASHINGTON — The Biden administration says it’s ready to join talks with Iran and world powers to discuss a return to the 2015 nuclear deal, in a sharp repudiation of former President Donald Trump’s “maximum pressure campaign” that sought to isolate the Islamic Republic.
The administration also took two steps at the United Nations aimed at restoring policy to what it was before Trump withdrew from the deal in 2018. The combined actions were immediately criticized by Iran hawks and drew concern from Israel, which said it was committed to keeping Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons.
Besides signaling Thursday a willingness to talk with Iran, the administration also reversed Trump’s determination that all U.N. sanctions against Iran had been restored. And it eased stringent restrictions on the domestic travel of Iranian diplomats posted 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 as Biden prepares to participate, albeit virtually, in his first major international events with world leaders.
In a statement, State Department spokesman Ned Price said the U.S. would accept an invitation from the European Union to attend a meeting of the participants — the five permanent members of the U.N. Security Council and Germany, along with Iran — in the original nuclear agreement.
“The United States would accept an invitation from the European Union High Representative to attend a meeting of the P5+1 and Iran to discuss a diplomatic way forward on Iran’s nuclear program,” he said. The U.S. has not participated in a meeting of those participants since Trump withdrew from the deal and began steadily ramping up sanctions on Iran.
Such an invitation has not yet been issued but one is expected shortly, following Blinken’s talks with the British, French and German foreign ministers.
In Iran, Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif said Friday the Biden administration action meant that the U.S. had acknowledged moves made under Trump “had no legal validity.”
“We agree,” he added, urging the Biden administration to lift U.S. sanctions “imposed, reimposed or relabeled by Trump. We will then immediately reverse all remedial measures.”
In Israel, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office expressed worry, saying it believes that “going back to the old agreement will pave Iran’s path to a nuclear arsenal.” It said in a statement Friday that it remains “committed to preventing Iran from getting nuclear weapons” and was in close contact with the United States on the matter.
Meanwhile, at the U.N., the Biden administration notified the Security Council that it had withdrawn Trump’s invocation last September of the so-called snapback mechanism under which it maintained that all U.N sanctions against Iran had been reimposed. Those sanctions included a conventional arms embargo against Iran that had been set to expire.
Trump’s determination had been vigorously disputed by nearly all other U.N. members and had left the U.S. isolated at the world body. Thus, the reversal is unlikely to have any immediate practical effect other than to bring the U.S. back into line with the position of the vast majority of U.N. members, including some of its closest allies.
Richard Mills, acting U.S. ambassador to the U.N., sent a letter to the Security Council saying the U.S. “hereby withdraws” three letters from the Trump administration that culminated in its Sept. 19 announcement that the United States had reimposed U.N. sanctions on Tehran due to its “significant non-performance” with its obligations.
Trump’s move had been ignored by the rest of the Security Council and the world, and the overwhelming majority of members in the 15-nation council had called the action illegal because the U.S. was no longer a member of the nuclear deal.
The top Republican on the House Foreign Affairs Committee, Rep. Michael McCaul of Texas, quickly denounced the steps.
“It is concerning the Biden Administration is already making concessions in an apparent attempt to reenter the flawed Iran deal,” he said. “The Trump Administration created leverage for President Biden on Iran — we should not squander that progress.”
Earlier Thursday, Blinken and his European counterparts had urged Iran to allow continued U.N. nuclear inspections and stop nuclear activities that have no credible civilian use. They warned that Iran’s actions could threaten delicate efforts to bring the U.S. back into the 2015 deal and end sanctions damaging Iran’s economy.
Iran has said it will stop part of International Atomic Energy Agency inspections of its nuclear facilities next week if the West doesn’t implement its own commitments under the 2015 deal. The accord has been unraveling since Trump pulled the U.S. out of the agreement.