US ready to return to JCPOA talks under certain conditions

EghtesadOnline: An informed source claimed that representatives of the American side informed the Iranians last Tuesday that the administration of US President Joe Biden is ready to negotiate a quick return to the nuclear agreement concluded in 2015 after implementing minor amendments to the nuclear agreement, Kuwaiti newspaper Aljarida reported, citing an informed source.

The source added that the communication between the two sides at the security level has continued since last October.

The source indicated that the negotiations at the diplomatic level were to return to the verbal agreement that was not binding on both sides, which had already begun to be implemented before it was hindered by the incidents that followed the October 7 operation, as the American side insisted that it would not be able to sign any understanding until the presidential elections were held in Washington, before it backed down from that in the meeting last Tuesday, the reports added.

The newspaper also said that Biden is ready to sign the agreement before the end of his term, but he wants the two sides to agree on some outstanding issues.

It added that Iran insists that the United States' return to the nuclear deal must be conditional on restrictions such as Washington not being able to benefit from the snapback mechanism that would enable the return of all international sanctions on the Islamic Republic, which is what Trump tried to do after withdrawing from the previous agreement concluded by former President Barack Obama.

He explained that the Iranians insist that all centrifuges and enriched uranium must remain in storage under the supervision of the International Atomic Energy Agency, in addition to demanding the inclusion of a new clause that allows Tehran to extract these materials and return to its current steps in the event that any member withdraws from the treaty, or Washington delays in implementing its pledges to lift economic sanctions.

Iranian officials are yet to comment on this report.

The JCPOA was signed in 2015 between Iran and the five permanent members of the UN Security Council and Germany. Former US President Donald Trump illegally pulled out of the deal in 2018 while the current US President, Joe Biden, has signaled that he is ready to resurrect the agreement.

Russia, the UK, Germany, China, the US, and France have been in talks with Iran since April 2021 to reinstate the deal.

The talks to salvage the JCPOA kicked off in the Austrian capital of Vienna in April 2021, with the intention of examining Washington’s seriousness in rejoining the deal and removing anti-Iran sanctions.

The negotiations have been at a standstill since August due to Washington’s insistence on its hard-nosed position of not removing all the sanctions that were slapped on the Islamic Republic by the previous US administration. Iran maintains it is necessary for the other side to offer some guarantees that it will remain committed to any agreement that is reached. / Mehr