France: Pre-election situation in Iran hinders JCPOA talks

The French foreign minister announced that “internal issues in Iran on the eve of the presidential elections” have delayed the revival of the JCPOA. He said that returning to the JCPOA would be the start of extensive negotiations on Iran’s missile program and regional role.

French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian explained the reasons for the delay in talks to revive the JCPOA in a speech to the French Senate on Tuesday, March 16. Le Drian said there is a “tactical and technical problem” in Iran and that the country’s internal situation ahead of the June presidential election has delayed the start of new talks on Iran’s nuclear program and prevented the revival of the JCPOA.

According to the French Foreign Minister, returning to the JCPOA will be a start to including the issue of regional policies and Iran's missile program in the negotiations.

Previously, some senior officials in Hassan Rouhani's government, including Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif, have implicitly and sometimes openly warned the White House not to miss the remaining opportunity in the 12th government to reach an agreement, given the high probability of hardline fundamentalists winning the 2021 presidential election.

US: Iranian elections have no impact on negotiations

Contrary to the statements of Jean-Yves Le Drian and Zarif, American officials explicitly stated that the presidential election has no impact on nuclear negotiations with Iran.

Robert Malley, the US State Department's special representative for Iran, emphasized in an interview with the Axios website published on Wednesday, March 10, that the presidential election in Iran is not a factor in the Biden administration's decisions on how to advance the negotiation process with Tehran.

Robert Malley said the US government will not speed up or slow down the negotiation effort because of the Iranian elections, and that the process will only proceed in accordance with US national interests and security.