TEHRAN - The Biden administration says that it was ready to hold talks with other world powers and Iran to discuss Tehran's nuclear program, marking a first step in a possible diplomatic deal in which Washington could rejoin the JCPOA, according to NBC News.

State Department spokesperson Ned Price noted the Biden’s administration is prepared “to discuss a diplomatic way forward on Iran's nuclear program,” in reaction to an invitation from the European Union's high representative for foreign affairs and security policy to attend a meeting of the countries that signed the 2015 nuclear agreement — Britain, France, Germany, Russia, China and Iran. 

Meanwhile, the EU's deputy secretary general for political affairs, Enrique Mora, said that the accord was at "a critical moment" and that he was ready to invite all the participants in the deal to "an informal meeting to discuss the way forward."

A senior State Department official told reporters that the announcement represented not a breakthrough but merely a first step on a potentially long, arduous diplomatic effort, adding “I think we recognize that this is just a very first initial step to say that we are prepared to attend the meeting that would be convened by the EU.”

"We recognize that that's not in and of itself a breakthrough. Even the first meeting itself may not be a breakthrough," the official said. "But it is a step. Until we sit down and talk, nothing's going to happen."

The senior State Department official suggested that it was up to the Iranians whether they would accept the EU invitation.

"We'll find out, I assume in the coming days, whether they are prepared to join a meeting that the EU would convene. Of course, our hope is that they would, but we'll just have to wait and see," the official remarked.

The three European foreign ministers "welcomed the United States' stated intention to return to diplomacy with Iran as well as the resumption of a confident and in-depth dialogue between the E3 and the United States," according to NBC News.

Mohammad Javad Zarif, the Iranian foreign minister, stressed the Europeans must abide by their own commitments and "demand an end to Trump's legacy of Economic Terrorism," saying that Iran's actions were responses to U.S. and European "violations" of the accord.

Early Friday, Zarif tweeted that Iran would "reverse all remedial measures" if the U.S. lifts sanctions on his nation.

Also on Friday, Ayatollah Seyed Ali Khamenei reiterated his previous statement concerning the JCPOA on the Instagram and noted, “Iran has fulfilled all its obligations under the deal, and not the United States and the three European countries ... If they want Iran to return to its commitments, and the United States must in practice ... lift all sanctions. Then, after verifying whether all sanctions have been lifted correctly, we will return to full compliance ... It is the irreversible and final decision and all Iranian officials have consensus over it.” 

EE/PA