Iran, global powers to discuss US return to nuclear deal

The European Union has announced that officials from the remaining parties to the 2015 nuclear deal will meet virtually on Friday to discuss a possible return of the United States to the landmark accord, an initiative welcomed by Washington as “a positive step”, Aljazeera reports.

The administration new US President Joe Biden has been seeking to engage Iran in talks about both sides resuming compliance with the deal, under which US and other economic sanctions on Tehran were removed in return for curbs on Iran’s nuclear programme.

“Participants will discuss the prospect of a possible return of the United States to the JCPOA (Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action) and how to ensure the full and effective implementation of the agreement by all sides,” the EU said in statement on Thursday, referring to the deal by its formal name.

Biden’s predecessor, Donald Trump, in 2018 unilaterally withdrew from the deal, a landmark pact signed in Vienna three years earlier by Iran, China, Russia, France, Germany, the United Kingdom and the US. Trump also re-imposed punishing US sanctions, prompting Iran, after waiting more than a year, to violate some of the pact’s nuclear restrictions in retaliation.

The punitive measures have crippled life in Iran, hampering the government from importing food, medicine and COVID-19 vaccines.

Biden has promised to rejoin the agreement – reached when he was vice president on former President Barack Obama’s administration – on the condition that Iran first returns to respecting the commitments it dropped in retaliation for Trump’s decision.

However, on Wednesday, Iran’s President Hassan Rouhani said the Biden administration’s words have not translated into action and his country had seen “no serious efforts” from the US.