TEHRAN— Robert Malley, President Biden’s special envoy for Iran, said on Monday that reviving the 2015 nuclear agreement with Iran “is not even on the agenda” and “not the focus, because there is no movement.”

Speaking to CNN's Becky Anderson, Malley said that the U.S administration believes that Washington feels the need to stop Tehran from acquiring a nuclear weapon. 

“Diplomacy is the way to do that,” he said. “We will see whether this is a government that is interested in reaching that a deal, but at this point, the focus is on what's happening around because the talks are stalled.”

He went on to say that Biden made it clear from the first day he came into office that one of his priorities was to prevent Iran from acquiring a nuclear weapon. “And he believes, and we continue to believe, that diplomacy is the best way to achieve that goal,” Malley continued. “But the reason the talks are at a standstill and an impasse and why they're not so far moving at all, and why they're not the focus, is because Iran has taken a position in those talks for the past two months, which is simply inconsistent with a return to the deal. They're making demands that have nothing to do with the JCPOA. And as long as that's the case, the talks will be stopped.”

Contrary to Malley’s remarks, Iran considers production of nuclear arms as religiously banned.
 
'Our policy is not regime change’

Malley later addressed a question about whether the administration would support a regime change in Tehran. “Our policy is not one of regime change instigated from Washington,” he said. “That's not our policy.”

“Our policy is to defend and support the fundamental rights of Iranian citizens just as we want to support the fundamental rights of citizens across the globe,” the special envoy continued. “The form of government in Iran will be up to the Iranians to decide. Our position, which is very clear, is that we support the fundamental human rights of ordinary Iranian women and men.”