Bagheri Kani Says Iran Ready to Negotiate with the U.S. on the JCPOA

Ali Bagheri Kani, the head of Iran's Foreign Ministry, announced Tehran's readiness to resume negotiations regarding the revival of the JCPOA with the United States. In an interview with Newsweek published on Tuesday, July 16, he emphasized that Tehran has an 'open' approach to resuming talks with Washington for mutual participation in the nuclear agreement. Bagheri Kani's remarks come as the U.S. has not welcomed the election of Masoud Pezeshkian as Iran's new president. He pointed out that Tehran welcomes the restart of negotiations on the JCPOA and stated, 'Tehran intends to expand its relations with China, Russia, and neighboring countries.' In his speech on Tuesday at the United Nations Security Council, he referred to the JCPOA as a 'successful multilateral initiative' that was supposed to address the 'fabricated concerns' of the West regarding Iran's nuclear program. He criticized the U.S. withdrawal from the agreement, stating that it caused 'harm to all parties involved.' On July 10, the head of the Foreign Ministry in the 13th government also reported on the continuation of indirect talks about reviving the JCPOA through Oman. The White House rejected the resumption of nuclear negotiations after the elections in Iran. Since the U.S. withdrawal from the JCPOA during Donald Trump's presidency in 2018, this important agreement, aimed at limiting the scope of Iran's nuclear activities in exchange for the lifting of some sanctions against Iran, has collapsed. Negotiations between Tehran and the remaining countries in the JCPOA, along with the U.S., to revive this agreement have been halted since the 'Women, Life, Freedom' protests in 2022 and the presentation of Iran's 'extrajudicial' demands. Iran remains a part of the agreement, but due to U.S. sanctions against it, it has reduced its commitments. The spokesperson for the White House National Security Council, on July 9, responded to the question of whether the U.S. is ready to resume nuclear negotiations with the new president in Iran, saying, 'No.' John Kirby, referring to the election of Masoud Pezeshkian as the new president of Iran, stated, 'We need to see what he will do, but we do not expect a change in Iran's behavior.' The U.S. State Department also reacted to Masoud Pezeshkian's victory in the Iranian presidential elections, stating that Washington does not expect this election to lead to fundamental changes in Iran. Masoud Pezeshkian, the elected president of Iran, presented himself as a defender of the JCPOA during the recent election campaign. His main foreign policy advisor is Mohammad Javad Zarif, the former foreign minister of Iran, who conducted extensive negotiations with his American and European counterparts during Hassan Rouhani's first administration, which led to the nuclear agreement known as the JCPOA. During his election campaign, Masoud Pezeshkian emphasized that without reviving the JCPOA and lifting sanctions, it is impossible to overcome the economic problems facing society, and he explicitly criticized the parliament for passing a law that complicates the revival of the nuclear agreement. However, in one of the debates with Saeed Jalili, he stated that the condition for Iran's return to the JCPOA is the fulfillment of U.S. commitments. Reuters has predicted that Pezeshkian may adopt a pragmatic foreign policy and reduce tensions over stalled negotiations with global powers to revive the JCPOA.