US envoy to visit Israel on Mideast tour as Iran nuclear talks to restart
Rob Malley will also travel to UAE, Saudi Arabia and Bahrain to ‘coordinate our approaches’ on range of concerns regarding Iran, before seventh round of Vienna negotiations
Jacob Magid is The Times of Israel's US bureau chief
US Special Envoy for Iran Robert Malley will visit Israel during a 10-day regional trip that begins Thursday, as the Biden administration works to coordinate with Mideast allies before the resumption of indirect talks with Iran aimed at reviving their multilateral nuclear accord.
Malley will begin his trip in the United Arab Emirates before proceeding to Israel, Saudi Arabia and Bahrain. The tour will conclude on November 20, nine days before world powers are set to reconvene in Vienna for the seventh round of talks on a joint US-Iran return to the 2015 nuclear deal, known formally as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action.
The special envoy “will coordinate our approaches on a broad range of concerns with Iran, including its destabilizing activities in the region and the upcoming” nuclear talks, the US State Department said in a statement.
The trip will be Malley’s first to Israel as a member of the Biden administration, though he has met multiple times with Israeli officials in Washington. Malley — one of the original architects of the JCPOA — has rarely seen eye-to-eye with Israeli officials on the matter, given Jerusalem’s longstanding opposition to the deal.
Malley last spoke publicly on efforts to revive the JCPOA last month when he told reporters in a briefing that Iran’s explanations for staying away from nuclear talks in Vienna are “wearing thin.”
Days later, Tehran announced its readiness to return to the negotiation table at the end of November.
Ready to engage with partners during my November 11-20 travel to the UAE, Israel, Saudi Arabia, and Bahrain. Focus will be on regional issues and negotiations over a mutual return to the JCPOA. https://t.co/WVX5boei0Q
— Special Envoy for Iran Robert Malley (@USEnvoyIran) November 11, 2021
Earlier this week, Iran’s Foreign Ministry spokesman and top negotiator in the nuclear talks, Saeed Khatibzadeh, said the Islamic Republic will continue its actions in breach of the nuclear deal until it is assured the US will lift its crippling sanctions in a verifiable manner.
A date has been set for November 29 for restarting talks in Vienna to save the JCPOA after a five-month gap in negotiations that began when Iran elected hardline President Ebrahim Raisi.
The nuclear talks, which are being brokered by European Union mediators as Tehran refuses to deal with United States negotiators directly, are aimed at bringing Washington and Tehran back into the JCPOA, which was abandoned by former US president Donald Trump. After exiting, the Trump administration slapped Iran with stiff sanctions, primarily targeting its oil exports.
The remaining parties to the agreement — Britain, China, France and Germany as well as Russia — are also taking part in the Vienna talks.
US President Joe Biden has said he is ready to rejoin the deal, under which Iran agreed to strict limits on its nuclear activities in exchange for relief from sweeping sanctions.
Iran wants a lifting of all US sanctions imposed after Trump’s withdrawal. The Biden administration says it will only negotiate measures taken by its predecessor over the nuclear program, not steps imposed over other concerns such as human rights.
Washington insists Tehran must return to full compliance with the limits on its nuclear program it agreed to in 2015, and has warned repeatedly that the window of opportunity for a deal is closing fast.
On Friday, Iran said it had almost doubled its stock of enriched uranium in less than a month. Meanwhile, the head of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) warned that its oversight capabilities in Iran are being weakened.
Sixty percent enrichment is the highest level to which Iran has enriched uranium and is a short technical step to weapons-grade 90%. Under the nuclear agreement, Iran was barred from enriching uranium above 3.67%.
In September, the IAEA confirmed that Iran had boosted its stocks of uranium enriched above the percentage allowed in the deal.
