Brussels, April 2, (dpa/GNA) – The remaining parties of the Iran nuclear deal are holding talks on Washington’s possible return on Friday, with Tehran hoping new US President Joe Biden will come back to the accord and lift punitive measures.
Representatives from China, France, Germany, Russia, Britain and Iran are taking part in the virtual meeting chaired by the EU diplomatic core’s deputy secretary general Enrique Mora.
Participants were to discuss the prospect of Washington’s potential return and “how to ensure the full and effective implementation of the agreement by all sides,” a statement sent out by the bloc’s diplomatic service on Thursday said.
The Iran nuclear deal was negotiated in 2015 to prevent the country from developing nuclear weapons, in exchange for the lifting of crippling economic sanctions.
Former US president Donald Trump pulled out in May 2018 and reimposed heavy sanctions, plunging oil-rich Iran into an acute economic crisis, more recently exacerbated by the coronavirus pandemic.
In response, Iran has been incrementally violating the terms of the agreement since 2019, including with higher uranium enrichment and uranium metal production.
In Washington, US State Department spokesperson Ned Price welcomed the announcement of the talks.
“We have been clear for weeks now that we are ready to pursue a return to compliance,” he told reporters.
Iran had so far rejected a meeting with the so-called 4+1 group, arguing this would not be necessary for the US to return.
GNA