The U.S. Secretary of State and the Foreign Ministers of France, Germany, and the United Kingdom issued a joint statement indicating that they are willing to hold direct talks with Tehran over how to bring the United States and Iran into compliance with the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (or JCPOA, commonly known as the Iran nuclear deal) – and then strengthen the agreement and address broader security concerns.
For the United States, this is a major step toward restoring the Iran nuclear deal – which was abandoned by the Trump administration – but the clock is ticking. Tehran may only be months away from amassing enough fissile material to build an atomic bomb. On February 26, the ACG hosted a virtual discussion with Iran expert Dr. Cornelius Adebahr and nuclear proliferation expert Kelsey Davenport about the U.S., Europe, and Iran at this critical juncture.