JERUSALEM, Israel – The next few weeks will be critical for the Biden administration as it tries to break through a deadlock with Iran over its nuclear program.
Washington is planning to offer some sanctions relief to Iran if the Islamic Republic agrees to stop working on advanced centrifuges and enriching uranium to 20% purity, Politico reports.
The new proposal is an effort by the US to get Iran to the negotiating table and jump-start talks as early as this week, the report said. One unnamed official stressed the details of the proposal are still being worked out.
“Iran is poised to blow through additional nuclear deal restrictions in the next few weeks. This is the crucial time to avoid an escalation of the situation,” Daryl Kimball, executive director of the Arms Control Association, which is closely watching the Iran nuclear negotiations, told Politico.
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The timing is very sensitive for the Biden administration largely due to Iran’s upcoming presidential election in June. Tehran likely won’t consider any major moves regarding its nuclear program until after the vote.
Iran has long maintained that its nuclear program is for peaceful purposes only. But Israel claims Iran is seeking its destruction through nuclear warfare.
World powers signed the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) with Iran in 2015 in an effort to stop the regime from ever obtaining a nuclear weapon. Former President Donald unilaterally abandoned the deal and slammed Iran with crippling economic sanctions.
Biden has offered to return to negotiations about the deal, but Iran says Washington must first lift all sanctions before it is ready to talk.
In the meantime, Iran continues to violate the deal, arguing it is no longer obligated to it after the US left it in 2018.
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