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Analysis

Can Biden afford to give up on Iran nuclear deal? 

US envoy's latest word is Iran is 'not interested,' but the EU reaffirms support for the JCPOA while an IAEA team comes to Iran. 

Iran nuclear
Robert Malley, Biden administration special envoy for Iran, testifies about the JCPOA (Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action) during a hearing of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee on May 25, 2022, in Washington, DC. — BRENDAN SMIALOWSKI/AFP via Getty Images

EU: No better option than JCPOA 

The Iran nuclear deal has the feel these days of the Halloween movie series. Just as you can never count on Michael Myers being truly dead, the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) seems to have an endless stream of lives and sequels. 

Less than two weeks ago Rob Malley, the Biden administration’s Iran envoy, said that because Tehran is “not interested” in the JCPOA, the US is “focused on other things,” such as “trying to deter and disrupt the provision of weapons to Russia and trying to support the fundamental aspirations of the Iranian people.” 

But what if Iran is interested again? 

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