US Rescinds Trump Claim That UN Sanctions on Iran are in Effect

The State Department said the US is willing to meet with Iran if the EU initiates a meeting

On Thursday, the US told the UN Security Council that it was rescinding the Trump administration’s claim that all UN sanctions had been reimposed on Iran under the “snapback” mechanism of the nuclear deal.

There is a clause of the JCPOA that allows the US to snapback all UN sanctions that were on Iran before the deal was negotiated in 2015 if the US believes Tehran is failing the deal. Trump tried to invoke this clause. The problem was, the US is the party that violated the JCPOA, so the Security Council did not oblige the demand.

Regardless of reality, the Trump administration pretended that these UN sanctions were back in place and threatened to enforce them. The Biden administration rescinding this assertion is mostly symbolic but is another sign that the US is finally ready to talk with Iran.

Also on Thursday, the State Department said the US would attend talks with Iran and the other signatories to the JCPOA if the EU foreign policy chief, Joseph Borrel, invites Washington to such a meeting. Iran has previously suggested Borrel could help coordinate the actions needed to be taken by Tehran and Washington to revive the JCPOA.

Author: Dave DeCamp

Dave DeCamp is the news editor of Antiwar.com, follow him on Twitter @decampdave.