US accepts talks with Iran, backtracks on Trump sanctions claim

Hours after Secretary of State Antony Blinken spoke with his European counterparts, the United States welcomed a proposal to convene talks of all nations that were part of the 2015 Iran nuclear deal.

The EU political director, Enrique Mora, afterward proposed via Twitter an informal meeting of all participants, saying the nuclear accord was at a "critical moment" - ahead of a weekend deadline for Iran to restrict some UN nuclear inspections.

"The United States would accept an invitation from the European Union High Representative to attend a meeting of the P5+1 and Iran to discuss a diplomatic way forward on Iran's nuclear program," State Department spokesman Ned Price said.

The group which sealed the 2015 deal includes the United States and Iran as well as Britain, China, France, Germany and Russia.

Former president Trump withdrew from the nuclear accord and instead imposed sweeping sanctions aimed at bringing Iran to its knees.

But President Joe Biden has supported a return to diplomacy, saying that the 2015 accord was effective in reducing Tehran's nuclear program.

It remains to be seen if Iran will also be willing to sit down with the United States. 

Iran has insisted that the United States first lift sanctions before it returns to full compliance with the 2015 accord, reversing steps it took in protest against Trump's measures.

In one step Thursday, the Biden administration said it was no longer contending that the United Nations had imposed new sanctions on Iran.

In a letter, the acting US ambassador to the United Nations, Richard Mills, said that sanctions said to be reinstated in August "remain terminated."

Former secretary of state Mike Pompeo had argued that the United States was still technically a participant in the 2015 accord and was triggering UN sanctions for violations.

Even close US allies dismissed the argument and the United Nations said that no such additional sanctions had come into force.

Agencies contributed to this report.