United States pushing Iran to return to JCPOA talks without further delay

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On Thursday, a senior Biden administration official said the US patience is wearing thin and further delays while Iran continues to expand its atomic capabilities could lead Washington and its partners to conclude a return to the landmark 2015 nuclear deal is no longer worthwhile. Moreover, the Biden administration is entreating Iran to quickly return to talks on its nuclear program after a 3-month hiatus caused by its government transition and warned that the window for negotiations may soon close. The official briefed reporters on the condition that diplomats from the remaining parties to the agreement have been meeting Iran’s foreign minister on the sidelines of the annual UN General Assembly to gauge Tehran’s willingness to return to the talks in Vienna.

The administration official added that Iran has said it is ready to rejoin the talks, but hasn’t yet offered a date for resumption, named a negotiating team, or indicated that it is willing to pick up where the negotiations left off in June. Britain, France, Germany, Russia, China, and the European Union are in discussions with representatives from the remaining parties to the deal. The official said all of them had agreed on the importance of resuming the talks as soon as possible. The US would at some point determine that Iran was no longer interested in the benefits that the accord offered or that its recent technological advances could not be undone by the limits it imposed. The UN’s atomic watchdog has said Iran is increasingly in violation of the deal, known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action or JCPOA.

The United States has participated indirectly in the Vienna talks, which were designed at bringing both Washington and Tehran back into compliance with the deal. On Tuesday, the EU’s top diplomat, Josep Borrell met with the new Iranian foreign minister, who reiterated Tehran’s willingness to resume negotiations at an early date. On Wednesday, Borrell met with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken. Borrell stressed the need for full cooperation from Iran and reiterated his concern about the overall trajectory of the Iranian nuclear program. However, the last round of talks in Vienna ended in June, ahead of Iran’s elections that boosted the ranks of hard-liners. There had been speculation that the remaining parties to the deal would meet on the sidelines of this week’s UN General Assembly.