Borrell Could Coordinate Iran, US Reciprocal Moves on JCPOA

Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif said the issue of whether Iran or the United States must take the first step back into the 2015 nuclear deal could be resolved by the European Union Foreign Policy Chief Josep Borrell. 
In an exclusive interview with CNN's Christiane Amanpour on Monday, he said Borrell could put his "hat on" as coordinator for the deal’s Joint Commission "and sort of choreograph the actions that are needed to be taken” by both sides. 
The US withdrew from the agreement, known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, in 2018 and Iran began to scale down its commitments in 2019, in response to Washington’s reimposition of sanctions that jeopardized its interests under the accord.
The new US administration of Joe Biden has vowed to rejoin the deal if Iran returns to strict compliance, while Tehran says Washington must remove all its sanctions first.
Zarif said the agreement has created a JCPOA Joint Commission that can now bridge the gap. 
“There can be a mechanism to basically either synchronize it, or coordinate what can be done,” he said. 
The commission is a forum that oversees the deal’s implementation and convenes quarterly. It was originally made up of the EU and seven parties to the agreement, but has been holding sessions without the US since 2018 when former president, Donald Trump, signed Washington’s exit from the accord. 
Borrell, who coordinates the commission, according to Zarif, can now step in to resolve the impasse.

Limited Window 

Zarif emphasized that the Biden administration has a "limited window of opportunity" to reenter the deal.
"The time for the United States to come back to the nuclear agreement is not unlimited," he stressed, noting that Biden would not want to portray himself as trying to take advantage of the failed policies of the former Trump administration.
Even after joining JCPOA, Biden has said he would initiate follow-on negotiations to strengthen and extend the deal. The talks would include Iran’s ballistic missile program and regional policies, both of which Iran has refused to negotiate.
Zarif said the Biden administration needs to stick to the original conditions of the nuclear deal. 
"The United States has to accept what we agreed upon. We decided not to agree on certain things, not because we neglected them, but because the United States and its allies were not prepared to do what was necessary," he said. 
Tehran maintains that it will not compromise on its defensive power and regional activities, as long as the US continues its massive weapons sale to the region and its aggressions in the Middle East.