US, France, UK, Germany Discuss Iran’s Nuclear Deal, Destabilizing Acts

The leaders of Western powers engaged in Iran's nuclear talks discussed efforts to revive the 2015 JCPOA accord, the White House said on Sunday in a statement. 

In addition to the Russian invasion of Ukraine, “they discussed ongoing negotiations over Iran’s nuclear program, the need to strengthen support for partners in the Middle East region, and joint efforts to deter and constrain Iran’s destabilizing regional activities," the White House said in its description of the call among the four allies. It did not provide any further details about the issues concerning the Middle East.

US President Joe Biden, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, French President Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Olaf Scholz participated in the call.

Last week, the European Union and United States said they were studying Iran's response to what the EU described as a "final" proposal to restore the deal. 

Earlier in the day, Mohammad Marandi, the de facto spokesman for Iran's nuclear negotiating team, said that Tehran has received considerable concessions from Washington in the nuclear talks.

A leaked report from Tehran on Friday, August 19, said that Iran’s chief nuclear negotiator Ali Bagheri-Kani had given local reporters in a closed-door briefing a list of “concessions” obtained from the United States.

These included exempting a range of Iranian government-linked entities from sanctions imposed for their role in Iran’s terror-related activities, and a pledge not to sanction any entity for links with the Revolutionary Guard.