What has happened?The administration of U.S. President Joe Biden indicated Thursday it is ready to begin talks about the U.S. rejoining the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, or JCPOA.What is the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action?The JCPOA is an agreement that was designed to prevent Iran from developing nuclear weapons. The pact was negotiated in 2015 between Iran and the world’s major powers – Britain, China, France, Germany, Russia and the United States.Why did the U.S. leave the JCPOA?In 2018, U.S. President Donald Trump removed the U.S. from the JCPOA, which had been a major diplomatic achievement of his predecessor, Barack Obama. Trump called the agreement “a horrible one-sided deal that should have never, ever been made.”What has Iran been doing?In 2019, after the U.S. began reimposing sanctions on Iran, Tehran began breaking its adherence to the accord, insisting its accelerated nuclear program was only for peaceful energy purposes.How has Iran responded to the news that the U.S. is open to reentry talks?Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif, in a Twitter post, urged the U.S. to stop “putting onus on Iran,” and instead bring “an end to Trump’s legacy of #EconomicTerrorism against Iran.” Iran wants the U.S. to remove Trump’s sanctions next week. If not, the Middle Eastern country has threatened to ban short-notice inspections by the U.N. nuclear watchdog.
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