At G-20, US, Europe Urge Iran to Return to JCPOA Compliance
Leaders of the U.S., Germany, France, and the UK told to Tehran that its continued nuclear advances and obstacles to the International Atomic Energy Agency’s work will jeopardize its return to the 2015 Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, JCPOA, also known as the Iran nuclear agreement.
Meeting on the sidelines of the G-20 summit in Rome, Italy on Saturday, German Chancellor Angela Merkel, French President Emmanuel Macron and British Prime Minister Boris Johnson said they support President Joe Biden’s pledge to return the U.S. to full compliance with the JCPOA so long as Iran does the same.
Former president Donald Trump withdrew from the JCPOA deal in 2018. Biden has said the U.S. will rejoin once Tehran returns to full compliance with the agreement’s restrictions on nuclear weapons development.
U.S. and European leaders reiterated that returning to the deal would result in the lifting of sanctions that currently cripple Tehran’s economy.
“We call upon President Raisi to seize this opportunity and return to a good faith effort to conclude our negotiations as a matter of urgency,” they said in a statement provided by the White House following the meeting.
The so-called E3+1 format meeting in Rome came on the heels of Tehran’s announcement earlier this week that it is ready to resume negotiations before the end of November.
“They’re scheduled to resume,” Biden said to reporters when asked when he would like nuclear talks to begin.
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