US President Joe Biden said Saturday that nuclear talks with Iran would resume even as he and European leaders warned Tehran that "accelerated" and "provocative nuclear steps" it has taken will jeopardize its return to compliance under a 2015 nuclear agreement.
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Biden and the leaders of Germany, France and Britain met as Iran continues to enrich uranium to near-weapons-grade levels. The leaders are trying to revive the 2015 deal and restore Iran's program to where it was under the pact, which kept the Islamic republic at least one year away from the potential to field a nuclear weapon.
"This will only be possible if Iran changes course," Biden, German Chancellor Angela Merkel, French President Emmanuel Macron and British Prime Minister Boris Johnson said in a joint statement.
"We call upon [Iranian] President [Ebrahim] Raisi to seize this opportunity and return to a good faith effort to conclude our negotiations as a matter of urgency. That is the only sure way to avoid a dangerous escalation, which is not in any country's interest," they said after meeting on the sidelines of a summit of the Group of 20 richest nations.
The four leaders met to discuss Iran while in Rome to attend the G20 summit.
In a joint statement issued after the meeting, the four Western leaders "expressed our determination to ensure that Iran can never develop or acquire a nuclear weapon."
The leaders shared "our grave and growing concern" that Iran "has accelerated the pace of provocative nuclear steps" after it halted negotiations on a return to the nuclear agreement, formally known as Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA).
Somewhat conflictingly, however, as the leaders posed for photos before the closed-door talks, Biden was asked when he would like the stalled negotiations with Iran to resume.
"They're scheduled to resume," he said, in what appeared to be the first public confirmation by the US of a resumption in negotiations.
Ahead of his meeting with Germany, France and the U.K. on Iran strategy, Biden is asked, "Mr. President, when would you like talks with Iran to resume?"
Biden: "They're scheduled to resume."
— Kaitlan Collins (@kaitlancollins) October 30, 2021
Merkel, for her part, said she was deeply concerned by Iran's uranium enrichment.
"We are counting on a return of Iran to the negotiating table. But the clock is ticking. Uranium enrichment is occurring in Iran and this deeply concerns us," she said on the sidelines of the G20 meeting.
An EU diplomat said the hint about lifting sanctions as an incentive for Iran to resume talks was "very clear," but added that Western powers should be ready if Iran continues its current policies, and said EU officials have yet to decide at what point they should react if Tehran does.
Iran has yet to commit to a date to return to nuclear talks being held in Vienna but last Wednesday, the Islamic republic's top nuclear negotiator, Ali Bagheri, said they were slated to resume at the end of November.
US national security adviser Jake Sullivan said Thursday that the US was still trying to determine whether Iran was serious about returning to the negotiations.
"We have heard positive signals that they are, but I think we have to wait and see when and whether they actually show up at the negotiating table," he told reporters Thursday aboard Air Force One as Biden flew to Rome.
Sullivan said the leaders would send "clear messages" to Iran that the window for negotiation "is not unlimited."
"We, of course, retain all other options to be able to deal with this program as necessary," he said.
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A senior US administration official told reporters the meeting with Germany, France and Britain had been suggested by Merkel with the aim of giving leaders an opportunity to review the issues ahead of the resumption of the talks.
"Our conviction is that if the United States and Europe are united and the United States and the entire P5+1 pull together, the diplomatic solution is the best solution to preventing Iran from getting a nuclear weapon," the official said, referring to the UN Security Council's five permanent members, plus Germany.
"And so they talked about (...) how we can effectively shape the environment to give diplomacy the best chance of succeeding in the fastest possible timeframe to put a lid back on Iran's nuclear program," the official added.
