State Department Spokesman, Ned Price, said in a statement on Thursday, “The United States would accept an invitation from the European Union High Representative to attend a meeting of the P5+1 and Iran to discuss a diplomatic way forward on Iran’s nuclear program.”
A United States official told Reuters, “We are ready to show up if such a meeting were to take place.”
P5+1 is made up of the five countries that make up the United Nations Security Council. These countries are; the United States, France, the UK, China, and Russia.
The nuclear deal, officially known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), was formed in 2015 which prevented Iran from furthering their nuclear warhead development in exchange for economic sanction relief.
Former President Trump backed out of the agreement in 2018.
On Friday, Javad Zarif, the Foreign Minister of the Islamic Republic of Iran, demanded that the United States get back into the plan via a statement on Twitter.
In the tweet, he threatened to “immediately reverse all remedial measures,” meaning Iran would increase its enriched uranium stockpiles. The uranium serves as fuel for a nuclear warhead.
Iran set a deadline for the United States to rejoin the deal on February 23 if not, they will reject short-notice inspections from the United Nations.
The European Union said on Friday they’re working on an informal meeting between the remaining members of JCPOA and the United States.
Israel isn’t too keen on the idea.
A statement from their Prime Minister’s office said, “Israel remains committed to preventing Iran from getting nuclear weapons and its position on the nuclear agreement has not changed. Israel believes that going back to the old agreement will pave Iran’s path to a nuclear arsenal. Israel is in close contact with the United States on this matter.”
Since the United States withdrew, the Iranian government admitted they violated the terms of the agreement by using an underground plant to harvest enriched uranium.
