Secretary of State Antony Blinken addresses U.S. State Department staff during U.S. President Joe Biden’s first visit to Washington, DC, February 4, 2021.
Saul Loeb | AFP | Getty Images
Secretary of State Antony Blinken will hold a virtual meeting with America’s top European allies Friday night to discuss strategy on Iran, Western diplomats and senior US officials told NBC News.
Blinken will discuss Iran with the foreign ministers of Germany, France and the UK. The diplomats will also discuss the Covid-19 pandemic, climate change and the situation in Myanmar. The last time the secretary of state issued a call in this form was in 2018, when the US pulled out of the nuclear deal with Iran, NBC said.
The meeting will take place after President Joe Biden’s National Security Council meets Friday afternoon to discuss the approach to Iran’s government. White House press secretary Jen Psaki said the NSC meeting is part of an ongoing policy review and no announcements will be made.
The developments so far are the strongest indication of Biden’s intention to turn the page of former President Donald Trump’s go-it-alone approach to Iran and diplomacy in general and to return the US to a multilateral foreign policy. .
The White House wants to rejoin the nuclear deal with Iran, but insists Iran return to full compliance first. The Biden administration has pledged to consult closely with US allies in its approach to Iran.
Trump withdrew the US from the deal because it did not restrict Iran’s ballistic missile program or attract Tehran’s support for militant groups.
Iran has reversed its commitments under the deal as the Trump administration pursued a policy of “maximum pressure” by imposing crippling economic sanctions on the Islamic Republic.
Iranian Foreign Minister Javad Zarif on Monday proposed that Washington and Tehran return to the deal at the same time with diplomatic backing from the European Union.
However, the Biden government rejected that proposal.
“The proposal on the table, as President Biden has said, is that if Iran resumes full compliance with the JCPOA, we will be willing to do so,” State Department spokesman Ned Price said Tuesday.
The US has not yet had talks with Iran about the nuclear deal, Price said.
The Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action is the official name of the agreement negotiated under former President Barack Obama that sought to prevent Iran from developing a nuclear weapon. China, France, Germany, Russia and the UK were also parties to the deal.
Last week, Biden appointed Robert Malley as US envoy to Iran. Malley helped write the original 2015 nuclear deal with Iran. The move is seen as a diplomatic effort to make progress in the Middle East.
In his first foreign policy speech, Biden pledged Thursday to restore alliances through diplomacy and restore Washington’s leading position on the world stage.
While not commenting on the Iran nuclear deal, he announced that the US would no longer support Saudi Arabia’s offensive operations in Yemen. The Saudis there are fighting an armed movement known as the Houthis. Washington and Riyadh accuse Iran of supporting the Houthis.
Biden said the US would continue to help Saudi Arabia defend its sovereignty and territorial integrity, a statement designed to reassure Riyadh and warn Iran. The Saudis accused Iran of orchestrating an attack on its oil facilities in 2019, which prompted Riyadh to cut its oil production in half.
-CNBC’s Amanda Macias contributed to this article.