The State Department issued a statement on Feb.18, saying that it was willing to meet with the EU leaders to discuss the U.S. rejoining the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA). It is demanding, however, that Iran come back into compliance with the 2015 agreement. Iran began increasing its production of nuclear material when the U.S. left the agreement in 2018, and when it was clear that the Europeans could not come up with alternatives on their own. Iran has also threatened to throw out the IAEA inspectors who remain under the agreement on Feb. 23 and to renege on the Additional Protocol. While both sides seem to want to get back to the agreement, there is a little face-saving “dance” being done to determine who will move first.
Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif proposed that the Europeans “synchronize” efforts for both sides to come back to the agreement. The EU political director said in a tweet that he would be prepared to call a meeting of the P5+1—the original JCPOA members, being the permanent members of the UN Security Council plus Germany—in order to find a way forward for that to happen. Speaking on background on Feb. 18, a State Department spokesman said that the U.S. would be prepared to attend such a meeting. The U.S. had also informed the Iranians that the Biden Administration would go back to an earlier agreement for Iranian officials to travel to the UN, which was significantly restricted by Pompeo. The U.S. has also officially withdrawn the “snapback” requests made by Pompeo.
