World powers seek to bring US back into nuclear deal
VIENNA (AP) — Officials from five world powers began a new effort Tuesday to try to bring the United States back into the foundering 2015 nuclear deal they signed with Iran, a delicate diplomatic dance that needs to balance the concerns and interests of both Washington and Tehran.
The meeting in Vienna of envoys from Russia, China, Germany, France, Britain and Iran came as the US was due to start its own indirect talks with
Iran. It would be one of the first signs of tangible progress in efforts to return both nations to the accord, which restricted Iran’s nuclear program in return for relief from US and international sanctions.
Following the closed meetings of the signatories to the deal, known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, Russia’s delegate, Mikhail Ulyanov, tweeted that the initial talks were “successful.”
In 2018, then-President Donald Trump pulled the US unilaterally out of the accord, opting for what he called a maximum-pressure campaign involving restored and additional American sanctions.
Since then, Iran has been steadily violating restrictions in the deal, like the amount of enriched uranium that it can stockpile and the purity to which it can be enriched. Tehran’s moves have been calculated to pressure the other nations in the deal to do more to offset crippling US sanctions reimposed under Trump.
US President Joe Biden, who was vice president under Barack Obama when the original deal was negotiated, has said he wants to bring the US back into the JCPOA but that Iran must reverse its violations.
Iran argues that the US violated the deal first with its withdrawal, so Washington has to take the first step by lifting sanctions.