Malley: Rejoining JCPOA Profoundly in US Interest

Reentering the 2015 nuclear deal will be profoundly in the United States’ national security interest, said the US chief negotiator in talks to revive the landmark agreement, known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action. 
“As of today, it’s our view, it’s the view of our European partners, the best way forward is trying to get back into the deal if Iran is prepared to do its share and come back into full compliance with its obligations,” US special envoy for Iran Robert Malley said in an interview with the MSNBC on Saturday. 
In 2018, the US ex-president Donald Trump pulled Washington out of the deal which lifted sanctions on Tehran in return for curbs on its nuclear program.
He reimposed sweeping sanctions that prompted Iran to roll back on JCPOA nuclear commitments in response. 
New US President Joe Biden called it a mistake and vowed to rejoin, making way for indirect negotiations with Iran in the Austrian capital Vienna, to work out how both sides can return to their commitments.  
Representatives from all JCPOA parties have been holding talks since April, but key issues still remain unresolved as the eighth round of negotiations have entered a break. 
Western parties have been constantly warning that time is running out for the deal to be restored given the pace of Iran’s nuclear advances. 
Malley said that point has not been reached yet.
“It is still well worth getting back into the deal. There is much still that can be salvaged,” he said. 
The fact that Biden wants its diplomats to continue negotiations in Vienna is a sign of the administration’s continued belief that the JCPOA is not a “dead corpse”, according to Malley.
“We need to revive it because it’s in our interest it’s the best way that we have to put Iran’s nuclear program back in the box.” 
He added that this will not be the case much longer, putting the timeline at “a few more weeks” at the current pace of Iran’s nuclear advances. 
It is the US priority to return to the deal if Tehran is prepared to do so, but if Iran chooses another path, Washington is prepared to use all the tools it has to put pressure on the country, Malley said. 
“Keeping the door open for diplomacy but using other tools at our disposal to make sure that Iran can’t move towards acquiring a bomb, that is our policy, we’ll work with all of our partners to achieve it.” 
Iran denies any intention to build weapons of mass destruction, maintaining that its nuclear activities are exclusively aimed at peaceful purposes. 

Not a Light Switch 

In Vienna, Iran demands a verifiable lifting of sanctions before reversing its nuclear steps, stressing that the US as the unreliable violating party should take the first step back into the deal. 
Malley said ten months of negotiation proves that this is not simply “a light switch”, since there are differences on what it means for both sides to go back into compliance. 
Iran wants the removal of all the sanctions that Trump imposed, including those imposed on non-nuclear grounds. 
“We say some of them he imposed were because of Iran’s behavior and has nothing to do with the nuclear deal and those we intend to maintain, even though the majority we would lift,” the American envoy said. 
Washington, likewise, has requirements for the manner of Iran’s return to compliance that it has not agreed yet with Tehran, according to Malley.
“It is not as easy as some people think it is—which is us just going back in and hoping that Iran will follow suit—because we have to agree what does it mean for the US to be back in compliance, what does it mean for Iran to be back in compliance.” 
Tehran also wants guarantees of non-repetition, so that future US administrations cannot abandon the deal as simply again. 
Malley said it is not possible to bind a future president in the US system of governance, but Biden has made clear for his part that Washington would stay in compliance as long as Iran is in compliance. 
“He will not be expending this political capital on trying to get back into the deal if the point was to then leave it.” 
Nevertheless, the Biden administration cannot promise that once it gets into the deal, no president can tear it up, he said.  
“The future president could do that … our hope is that we could show that this is a deal that is in our mutual benefit, which the best way to ensure that it’s sustainable.” 

Other Concerns  

The top negotiator also stressed that the US intends to build on the JCPOA once it is restored to its original shape, so as to reach other understandings which will make it even stronger by gaining more bipartisan support in Washington or regional support in the Middle East.
“We’ve never said that the JCPOA is the end of diplomacy, to the contrary … we should build on it … and we think Iran should also have an interest in addressing other issues that have not been addressed by the JCPOA,” he said. 
Western countries see Iran’s missile activities and regional policies as other sources of concern that need to be negotiated with Iran. 
Tehran says its defensive program is an inalienable right and non-negotiable, while asserting that regional issues should be resolved internally and without foreign interference.