Iran, US Open to EU-Brokered Informal Talks

Iran is looking into the European Union’s invitation to hold informal discussions between the signatories of the 2015 nuclear deal and the US, Tehran’s Foreign Ministry said on Saturday. “We are studying [the] proposal … and … consulting with our partners, including Russia and China, and will respond in the future,” Deputy Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi told state TV, adding: “However, we believe a US return to the nuclear accord does not require a meeting and the only way for it is to lift the sanctions.” A day earlier, the White House signaled it was open to the EU’s invitation but insisted it did not plan on making any concessions toward Iran in advance of the “diplomatic conversation.” Press secretary Jen Psaki explained that Washington does not “need additional administrative steps to participate” in the potential talks. However, the European-mediated discussions, which would be the first such meeting between Iran and the US since then-President Donald Trump pulled out of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action in 2018, may be dead in the water, after it was revealed on Friday that the United Nations nuclear watchdog had discovered traces of uranium in two undeclared sites in Iran during its August inspections.