Is the US ready to negotiate a nuclear deal with Iran? - report

The Biden administration is reportedly ready to sign a nuclear deal with Iran, according to an exclusive report published Friday by the Kuwaiti Arabic-language daily. Al-Jarida.

The report claims that an informed source in Iran’s Supreme National Security Council confirmed that US officials said a few days ago, on Tuesday, that the Biden administration was ready to negotiate a return to the 2015 nuclear deal after introducing minor amendments.

The source explained to Al-Jarida that communications between the two parties at the security level have continued since October 7, and have recently become almost daily, and even several times in the same day to avoid a clash between them in the context of the Gaza war.

The two sides had decided to return to an unwritten agreement between them before Hamas attacked Israel, the report said, while a political-level meeting between them was interrupted due to the death of President Ebrahim Raisi.

Iranian officials say in the report that Biden is willing to sign such a deal before his term ends in November, but he wants the Iranians to immediately return to implementing their commitments in the nuclear deal and reach agreements on a host of issues, such as what Tehran should do with the highly enriched uranium and advanced centrifuges that have recently been produced, in addition to Biden assuring Iran of the possibility that Trump wins the presidency and does not withdraw from the deal, as he did in 2018.

Iranian centrifuges are displayed during a meeting between Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and nuclear scientists and staff of the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran (AEOI), in Tehran, Iran June 11, 2023. (VIA REUTERS)

The source cites an Iranian official who insists that the US return to the nuclear deal must come with restrictions, such as Washington not being able to benefit from the “trigger clause” that would allow the return of all international sanctions against the Islamic Republic, something Trump attempted to do after withdrawing from the previous deal reached by former President Barack Obama.

IAEA supervision

The Iranians have insisted that all centrifuges and enriched uranium remain stored under the supervision of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), in addition to demanding the inclusion of a new clause that allows Tehran to extract these materials and revert to its current measures in the event that one of the members withdraws from the treaty, or if Washington delays implementing its commitments to lift economic sanctions against Iran.

A source told Al-Jarida that the Iranians are demanding security guarantees from the White House that these sensitive warehouses will not be targeted if their location is revealed to the IAEA.

The United States also demanded a secondary deal that would include commitments to end attacks by Tehran’s allies on Israel and U.S. forces in the region, prompting a backlash.

The source told the report that Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei and the new president, Masoud Pezeshkian, have been briefed on the US offer, expecting a response after Iran’s president-elect takes the constitutional oath of office late next week.

The statement comes days after US Secretary of State Antony Blinken warned that Iran was capable of producing material for a nuclear bomb “within a week or two,” reiterating his country’s commitment to preventing Tehran from doing so.