Biden to talk Iran deal in early calls with foreign leaders, White House says
Incoming Biden administration officials have suggested a return to the nuclear deal is a long way off.
The Biden administration plans to hold early conversations with foreign leaders ahead of any effort to reenter the Iran nuclear deal, White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki said on Wednesday.
If Iran returns to strict compliance under the nuclear pact, President Joe Biden has said he will reenter the multilateral pact as a starting point for follow-on negotiations to “tighten and lengthen Iran’s nuclear constraints” and address Iran's missile program.
The 2015 agreement, formally known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, provided Iran with sanctions relief in exchange for curbs on its nuclear activity. Since the Donald Trump administration abandoned the deal in 2018 and reimposed crippling economic sanctions, Iran has gradually violated the terms of the agreement to ramp up nuclear enrichment levels and its stockpile of uranium.
“The president has made clear that he believes that through follow-on diplomacy, the United States seeks to lengthen and strengthen nuclear constraints on Iran and address other issues of concern. Iran must resume compliance with significant nuclear constraints under the deal in order for that to proceed,” Psaki said during her first White House briefing on Wednesday.
