The Biden administration said Thursday evening that it is ready to begin conducting diplomacy with Iran, an announcement that has rankled Iran hawks in and out of Congress who see the new White House as rushing into talks with a regime that continues to sponsor terror attacks against U.S. forces and build its nuclear weapons program.
“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,” State Department spokesman Ned Price said in a statement to the Washington Free Beacon, confirming reports from earlier in the day indicating the United States would sit down with Tehran and European nations still party to the nuclear agreement.
The Biden administration’s desire for talks marks a departure from its early rhetoric on the Iran deal. Secretary of State Antony Blinken and other senior State Department officials have publicly stated that Iran must cease its enrichment of uranium, the key component in a nuclear weapon, and come back into compliance with the 2015 accord if it is to be granted relief from U.S. sanctions.
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