Secretary of State Antony Blinken recently had “productive” talks with his counterparts from Germany, Britain and France while discussing ways to revive Iran’s embattled nuclear deal, a State Department spokesperson said Saturday.
“Secretary Blinken had a productive meeting with his E3 counterparts from Germany, France and the UK in Liverpool [on Friday]. They discussed the JCPOA talks, and our way forward,” added the spokesperson, referring to the nuclear deal known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action.
The meeting took place in Liverpool, England on the eve of a G7 foreign ministers’ meeting as world powers and Iran have resumed talks on reviving the nuclear pact.
The Biden administration is scrambling to revive Iran’s 2015 nuclear deal, which limited Iran’s enrichment of uranium in exchange for the lifting of economic sanctions.
Iran has long claimed its nuclear program is peaceful, but U.S. intelligence agencies and the International Atomic Energy Agency say Tehran had an organized weapons program until 2003.
G7 foreign ministers met at the Museum of Liverpool in Liverpool, England on Dec. 11, 2021. Phil Noble/Pool via APAfter then-President Donald Trump unilaterally withdrew America from the Iran nuclear deal in 2018, a number of escalating incidents have struck the wider Mideast. That includes drone and mine attacks targeting vessels at sea, as well as assaults blamed on Iran and its proxies in Iraq and Syria.
Under President Biden, U.S. military officials are seeking a wider reshuffling of forces from the Mideast to other areas, but America still maintains a large presence at bases across the region.
Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi said Saturday Tehran was serious in its nuclear talks with world powers in Vienna, the IRNA news agency reported.
With Post wire services.
