US announces readiness to participate in P5+1 meeting with Iran

In two simultaneous moves, the US government announced that it was ready to participate in the P5+1 talks with Iran on the nuclear deal. It also canceled the automatic rollback mechanism of UN sanctions that Trump had activated.

The Biden administration has announced that it is willing to negotiate with Iran alongside the world's major powers to return to the 2015 nuclear deal and resolutely reject Trump's maximum pressure policy, which has isolated Iran.

US State Department spokesman Ned Price said in a statement that the United States accepts the European Union's invitation to participate in a joint meeting with the five members of the UN Security Council and Iran on the nuclear deal.

The US State Department said the measures were the result of talks Secretary of State Antony Blinken held with his British, French and German counterparts on Thursday, February 18, and came as Biden prepares for his first major virtual meeting with world leaders.

Joe Biden is scheduled to meet with leaders of the G7 industrialized nations on Friday, February 19, and then speak at the Munich Security Conference. At both events, Biden is expected to speak about his commitment to inclusive, multilateral diplomacy and his desire to restore what Trump has destroyed over the past four years.

Ned Price also said: "The United States accepts the invitation of the European Union High Representative to participate in the meeting of the P5+1 countries and Iran to discuss diplomatic ways to return to the nuclear agreement."

The comments came after EU political director Enrique Moura took to Twitter to propose an "informal meeting" with Iran and the US.

The United States has not participated in any of the P4+1 meetings on Iran since Trump withdrew from the nuclear deal with Iran.

The European Union's invitation has not yet been officially extended to the United States, but it will be delivered to the United States government soon after Blinken's negotiations with the foreign ministers of Britain, Germany, and France.

Cancel the trigger mechanism

At the same time, the Biden administration notified the UN Security Council in writing that it would cancel the automatic reimposition of UN sanctions against Iran, known as the "trigger mechanism," which was announced by Trump in September of last year, under which sanctions were automatically reimposed against Iran.

These sanctions included an embargo on the purchase and sale of weapons to Iran, which has expired.

In September 2019, the Trump administration sent a letter to the UN Security Council announcing that the United States was reinstating UN sanctions on Iran for “failure to meet its obligations.” Trump’s move was a disregard for other members of the Security Council and the world, and a majority of Security Council countries declared it illegal because the United States was no longer a party to the nuclear deal with Iran.

Lifting restrictions on the movement of Iranian diplomats

Meanwhile, US officials have said they will lift travel restrictions on Iranian diplomats attending UN meetings. With these restrictions imposed by Trump, Iranian diplomats could only travel between their residences and the main UN building in New York and were not allowed to travel to other parts of New York.

Michael McCaul, the Republican chairman of the House Foreign Relations Committee, immediately criticized the Biden administration's actions, saying, "It is concerning that the Biden administration is in an apparent attempt to compromise and return to the flawed nuclear deal with Iran."

He continued: "The Trump administration provided President Biden with a pressure tool on Iran. We should not take this development for granted."

Source: DW