European Allies Await Iran Response After Invitation To New Nuclear Talks - White House

WASHINGTON (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 23rd February, 2021) The Europeans are awaiting an answer from Iran after they invited the country to participate in new nuclear-related talks, White House spokesperson Jen Psaki said in a press briefing on Monday.

"Where it really stands right now is the Europeans issued the invitation and they are waiting for a response from the Iranians," Psaki said.

On Sunday, Iran Deputy Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said Tehran is considering the EU proposal to hold an informal meeting between the co-signers of the 2015 nuclear agreement formally known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), including the United States. Araghchi added that there was a chance of reviving the nuclear agreement after new US President Joe Biden assumed office.

Araghchi's comment came after US State Department spokesperson Ned price said on Thursday that the United States would accept an invitation to attend a meeting with other P5 +1 countries - Russia, China, France and the United Kingdom - plus Germany as well as Iran to discuss Tehran's nuclear program.

In 2015, Iran signed the JCPOA with the P5+1 group of countries and the European Union. The agreement required Iran to scale back its nuclear program and downgrade its uranium reserves in exchange for sanctions relief, including lifting the arms embargo five years after the deal's adoption. The Trump administration exited the agreement in 2018 and reinstated sanctions against Iran.

Iran passed a law in December to increase its uranium enrichment and stop United Nations inspections of its nuclear sites in response to the killing of nuclear physicist Mohsen Fakhrizadeh. Iran's atomic energy organization announced in early January that the country had succeeded in enriching uranium to 20 percent at the Fordow Fuel Enrichment Plant.