US return to Iran nuclear deal possible - IAEA

An American return to the 2015 nuclear deal with Iran remains possible, but both sides need to be prepared to negotiate, the head of the United Nations' nuclear watchdog suggested to European Parliamentarians on Tuesday, according to ABC News.

The United States pulled out of the deal unilaterally in 2018 under former President Donald Trump, but President Joe Biden has indicated that the U.S. would be willing to rejoin.

Complicating the matter, however, Iran has been steadily violating the restrictions of the deal, like the amount of enriched uranium it can stockpile and the purity to which it can enrich it. Its moves have been calculated to put pressure on the other nations in the deal — Russia, China, France, Germany and Britain — to do more to offset crippling sanctions reimposed under Trump.

Iran has said that before it resumes compliance with the deal, the US needs to return to its own obligations under the deal by dropping the sanctions.

Asked about Iran's insistence that the US take the first step, International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Director General Rafael Grossi said in a video appearance before three European Parliament committees that “it takes two to tango.”

He noted that over the past two years Iran has accumulated a lot of nuclear material and new capacities, and used the time for “honing their skills in these areas."

“Even if you had a magic wand or the hand of God and said we go back tomorrow, there will be a lot of housekeeping,” he said.