Joe Biden offers to open talks with Tehran on nuclear deal

US President Joe Biden reverses two largely symbolic steps against Tehran imposed by Donald Trump.

Ned Price says the US will accept the invitation from the EU to broker talks with Tehran. Picture: AFP

US President Joe Biden’s administration on Friday AEDT offered talks with Iran led by European allies and reversed two largely symbolic steps against Tehran imposed by Donald Trump, as it sought to salvage a nuclear deal on the brink of collapse.

Three days before Iran’s deadline to restrict some access to UN nuclear inspectors without an end to Mr Trump’s sanctions, new US Secretary of State Antony Blinken warned jointly with ­European powers that the move would be “dangerous’’.

Hours after Mr Blinken’s video conference with his French, British and German counterparts, EU political director ­Enrique Mora proposed via Twitter an “informal meeting” involving Iran — and the US accepted.

“The United States would ­accept an invitation from the ­European Union High Representative to attend a meeting of the P5+1 and Iran to discuss a diplomatic way forward on Iran’s ­nuclear program,” State Department spokesman Ned Price said.

The P5 — Security Council powers Britain, China, France, Russia and the US — plus Germany sealed in 2015 the deal brokered by president Barack Obama. Under the deal, know as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, Iran drastically scaled back its nuclear program in exchange for promises of economic relief.

Mr Trump withdrew from the deal in 2018 and imposed sweeping sanctions, aiming to bring Iran to its knees.

It remains to be seen if Iran will also be willing to sit down with the US. It has demanded an end to Mr Trump’s sanctions before reversing protest measures it took away from full compliance.

A senior US official said the Biden administration was showing good faith and saw a meeting as the start of a “prolonged path” to restoring and building on the nuclear accord. If Iran declines to meet, “I think it would be both unfortunate and at odds with their stated view that they want to come back if you come back. “That’s not going to happen simply by one side telling the other one what to do,” the official said.

Mr Biden has insisted he will not remove Mr Trump’s sanctions until Iran returns to compliance — but the administration on Friday undid two symbolic steps by the last administration. In a letter to the UN, the US said it no longer believed that the world body had “snapped back” sanctions on Iran.

Mr Blinken’s predecessor Mike Pompeo last year argued that the US was still a “participant” in the Security Council resolution that blessed the nuclear deal — despite withdrawing later — and therefore could reimpose sanctions. The argument had been dismissed by the UN and close US allies at the time.

“When we’re outvoted 14 to one, it’s very hard for us to work effectively in the Security Council,” another US official said as he explained Mr Biden’s reversal. “This gets us back into a position where we can work within that framework and work with our closest allies, in particular on addressing our concerns with Iran.”

The Biden administration also reversed curbs on Iranian diplomats in New York who were barred from all but a few blocks around the UN and their mission.

Iranian diplomats will now be treated like those from other ­nations with poor relations with the US, such as North Korea, with a requirement to seek permission if they travel beyond a 40km ­radius from Midtown Manhattan.

Iran will restrict some inspections by the International Atomic Energy Agency if the US does not lift its sanctions imposed since 2018 by Sunday. IAEA chief ­Rafael Grossi is to travel to ­Tehran on Saturday for talks.

A joint statement by the four foreign ministers urged “Iran to consider the consequences of such grave action, particularly at this time of renewed diplomatic opportunity”. The powers also ­expressed their concerns over Iran’s recent actions to produce both uranium enriched up to 20 per cent and uranium metal. “These activities have no credible civil justification,” the statement said.

Iranian Foreign Minister ­Mohammad Javad Zarif tweeted: “Instead of sophistry and putting onus on Iran, E3/EU must abide by own commitments and demand an end to Trump’s legacy of economic terrorism against Iran.”

AFP