US willing to join talks on Iran nuclear deal

President Joe Biden's administration says it would accept an invitation from EU leaders to join talks with Iran on a "diplomatic way forward" to address Tehran's nuclear program.

The US State Department made the announcement after US secretary of state Tony Blinken met virtually with his counterparts in France, Germany and UK. During the talks, the foreign ministers discussed their countries' joint goal to restore and strengthen the 2015 nuclear agreement with Iran, according to a readout of the meeting by the US State Department.

"The US 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," the State Department said. The P5+1 refers to the five permanent members of the UN Security Council – the US, UK, France, Russia and China – plus Germany.

Biden, during the presidential campaign, vowed to resume US participation in the nuclear agreement, known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA). But Washington had previously not laid out a timeline for trying to re-engage with Tehran, and it had insisted that Iran act first to roll back its selective flouting of the deal. Former president Donald Trump pulled the US out of the nuclear agreement in 2018.

Tehran would need to see more than "nice words and promises" from Washington to persuade it to reverse course and return to full compliance with its obligations under the nuclear deal, Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said yesterday.

Republican lawmakers in the US Congress have long criticized the Iran nuclear accord, first negotiated by former president Barack Obama when Biden was serving as his vice president. They have pushed for Iran to make the first move on returning to compliance with JCPOA before making any steps to re-enter the agreement.

"It is concerning the Biden administration is already making concessions in an apparent attempt to re-enter the flawed Iran deal," US House of Representatives Foreign Affairs Committee ranking member Michael McCaul (R-Texas) said.

By Chris Knight