Foreign ministers of the United States, Britain, France and Germany plan to discuss soon how to revive the 2015 Iran nuclear deal abandoned by former US President Donald Trump, sources familiar with the matter said on Thursday.
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Four of the sources said the virtual meeting, which was likely to cover other topics, could take place as soon as Friday, while two others said it could happen next week.
Such a high-level conversation would be the latest step by US President Joe Biden's administration to seek a way to revive the pact, under which Iran agreed to limit its nuclear activities so as to make it harder to develop a nuclear bomb in return for relief from US and other economic sanctions.
Trump abandoned the deal in 2018, restoring the US sanctions the agreement had removed and placing more on Iran.
Iran has long denied any intent to develop nuclear arms.
Biden, who took office last month, has said that if Tehran returned to strict compliance with the 2015 pact, Washington would follow suit and use that as a springboard to a broader agreement that might restrict Iran's missile development and regional activities.
Tehran has insisted that Washington ease sanctions before it will resume compliance, but Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif hinted on Monday at a way to resolve the impasse over who goes first by saying the steps could be synchronized.
While the US State Department reacted coolly, a US official said its stance should not be seen as a rejection.
Speaking to a US think tank from Paris, French President Emmanuel Macron welcomed the US willingness to engage Iran, offered himself as an "honest broker" and said Saudi Arabia and Israel must ultimately be involved.
In 2019, he pushed to bring Washington and Tehran back to the negotiating table and to set parameters for wider future talks.
European and Western diplomats have said Britain, France and Germany have proposed sequencing for Iran to return to compliance in return for economic benefits. It is unclear if Washington would lift sanctions without Iran first complying.
In September 2019, France proposed offering Iran a $15 billion credit facility, which would be guaranteed by Iranian oil revenues if Tehran came back fully into compliance. Such an arrangement hinged on Washington giving tacit approval.
"We aren't starting from a blank page. We know the parameters of the sequencing to get back to [the deal] and then to build on a deeper accord," said a senior European diplomat.
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