The Biden administration is taking another step towards reviving former President Barack Obama’s nuclear deal with Iran.
The New York Post reports that the Biden administration is getting ready to hold “indirect” talks with Iran.
“Shuttle diplomacy”
According to the Post, the meeting between the Biden administration and the Iranian regime will take place next week in Vienna. The outlet reports, however, that “direct talks” will not be held.
“Iran and the US will be in the same town, but not the same room,” the Post quotes a European diplomatic source as saying. The outlet then reports a Western diplomat as saying that a “shuttle diplomacy approach” will be used.
This has all been confirmed by Javad Zarif, an Iranian government official.
“At virtual JCPOA JC meeting, Iran & EU/E3+2 agreed to resume in-person talks in Vienna next Tues[day],” he wrote, adding, “No Iran-US meeting. Unnecessary.”
Background
The purpose of the “indirect” talks between the Biden administration and the Iranians will be to try to bring back the 2015 nuclear deal. This was something that President Joe Biden promised to do while campaigning.
What the nuclear deal did, according to Breitbart, was remove sanctions against Iran in exchange for Iran agreeing to temporary restrictions on its nuclear program. The deal has been criticized on a number of grounds, and that criticism intensified after it was discovered in 2018 that Iran didn’t even hold up its end of the bargain.
Former President Donald Trump eliminated the Iran deal and he replaced it with more effective economic sanctions, which have hurt the regime.
The Biden administration, nonetheless, wants to revive Obama’s nuclear deal. It has been trying to do so, but Iran has not been cooperative.
Recently, Iran declared that “it will not stop its 20% uranium enrichment before the U.S. lifts all sanctions.” This was in response to a proposal made by the Biden administration that would have lifted some of the economic sanctions against Iran in exchange for Iran stopping some of its uranium enrichment program.
There has been little sign that Iran is willing to compromise here, particularly as it appears to have the backing of China.
The post Biden administration will hold talks with Iran first appeared on Conservative Institute.
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