T he US presidential take on a more constructive and compromising stance on the Iranian nuclear issue and on Tehran-Washington relations in general has been at the forefront of Iran’s radar. Unfortunately for Iran in the beginning of February 2021, newly elected President Biden stated that the United States was not going to lift sanctions against Iran, unless Tehran returned to its commitments under the nuclear deal signed in 2015. Many believe that Biden will likely continue the tough policy pursued towards Iran that was set by the former President.

In his interview with CBS News the newly elected President mentioned that Washington will meet the Iranian side with a goal of bringing them back to the negotiating table under the condition if development of its nuclear program is in accordance with the terms of the agreement which then will be exchanged for easing sanctions. However, as experts note, since taking office, Biden’s administration has taken a tougher stance with US envoys not cooperating with their Iranian counterparts until Tehran returns to its former commitments under the agreement. This stance of the current administration could also be linked to the Israeli government policy on Iran as well as pressure by the US Jewish lobby.

President Biden will try to reposition himself within the context of negotiations with Iran, raising the bar and trying to get the maximum. A senior Biden administration official, who wanted to stay anonymous, told the Reuters news agency, “There is nothing changed in the US position. The United States wants Iran to come back into its JCPOA commitments” [1].

Tehran also has adopted an uncompromising position since Biden took office, Iran’s Supreme Leader Khamenei stated in his first comments on the situation: “If they want Iran to return to its JCPOA commitments, the US must completely lift sanctions. And not just verbally but on the paper. They must revoke sanctions and put them in action”. According to Khamenei, the United States should first of all return to its commitments under the historic 2015 nuclear deal, after which Tehran will try to meet and resume constructive talks. He says that Germany, France and the United Kingdom, which signed the nuclear deal along with the US, also no longer have the right to set conditions. During a meeting with commanders from the air force, Khamenei stated, “For a very short time after the deal they temporarily lifted some of the sanctions, but then they turned around again and even increased sanctions” [2].

In early February 2021, Iranian Foreign Minister Javad Zarif suggested that the EU could coordinate a so-called “simultaneous” return to the deal. Recently, based on a secret report by the UN Atomic Energy Agency, Iran began to produce materials, which were banned under the 2015 nuclear deal. This fact raised concerns on the European front as well. Brussels called on Tehran to stop violating the agreement and return to talks with Washington. The EU continues to act as a mediator in the Washington-Tehran relations, trying to find a way out of the deadlock. Of course, it’s not hard to see that although the efforts of the EU are urgently needed to bring the parties back to the negotiating table they are not enough to resume the talks and achieve tangible results.

T el Aviv has also intensified its political and diplomatic work with the newly-elected head of the White House and his administration, reinforcing Washington’s Middle East policy and its possible stance towards Iran. In early February 2021, Prime Minister Netanyahu made a statement, “The fact that the US President Joe Biden hasn’t called Prime Minister Netanyahu, doesn’t indicate a rupture in the US-Israel relations. I spoke with President Biden right after his victory. Our alliance is undoubtedly strong. It doesn’t mean we agree on everything but the alliance is the same as before and so is our friendship of almost 40 years.” [3] Some experts noted that relations between Biden and Netanyahu, are not on the same level as the relations between the current Israeli Prime Minister and former President Trump.

In the first part of February, during the talks with the US State Department, Israeli Foreign Minister Gabi Ashkenazi in turn touched upon Iran’s nuclear program and the current developments around it: “We also discussed joint efforts to prevent Iran from obtaining nuclear weapons and undermining regional stability.” [4] Experts note that future US talks with Iran and its outcomes are largely conditioned by the Biden administration’s development processes and personnel policy. One of the key issues is related to the possible candidacy of the US envoy to Iran, on which perhaps the effectiveness of bringing Iran back to the negotiating table may depend.

[1] https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2021/2/7/us

[2] https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2021/2/7/irans

[3] https://www.jpost.com/israel-news/netanyahu

[4] https://www.jpost.com/israel-news/netanyahu