The era of U.S. “maximum pressure” may be drawing to an end. At this juncture lies promise as well as peril: reviving U.S.-Iran diplomatic engagement on the JCPOA’s original basis could restore the agreement’s considerable non-proliferation benefits, revive contacts that withered under the Trump administration, and offer at least the prospect of discussing issues outside the nuclear file in a constructive rather than adversarial manner. For either side to subject such diplomacy to leverage-focused one-upmanship and additional demands would be a recipe for deadlock that is as predictable as it is avoidable. Instead, Iran should return to full compliance with its JCPOA commitments in exchange for a swift U.S. re-entry into the deal and lifting of Trump-era sanctions imposed in contravention of the accord. Such concerted forward movement should guide the two sides toward a clean revival of the existing JCPOA framework. But there are risks: in Iran’s case, failure to reasonably engage with the Biden administration could sap what international sympathy it has won as the aggrieved party following the Trump administration’s withdrawal from the agreement. Were Iran to proceed with further nuclear provocations, it might find itself seen by not just the U.S. but also the E3 as the unreasonable party. For Washington and the P4+1, with Iran’s June presidential polls looming, it is vital to deliver the financial dividends that Tehran, with some justification, sees as the unrealised return for its own nuclear commitments and JCPOA compliance prior to U.S. “maximum pressure”. Rouhani’s departure may not prove fatal to diplomacy, but there is no reason not to seize the opportunity between now and then to make as much progress as possible.

Tehran told the UN nuclear watchdog Wednesday that it was advancing research on uranium metal production, in what would be a fresh breach of the limits in Iran's 2015 deal with world powers. The latest move, which adds to pressure on US President-Elect Joe Biden just days before his inauguration, concerns Iran's plans to conduct research on uranium metal production at a facility in the city of Isfahan.  The Vienna-based International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) said in a statement that "Iran informed the Agency in a letter on 13 January that modification and installation of the relevant equipment for the mentioned R&D activities have been already started'". Iran says the research is aimed at providing advanced fuel for a research reactor in Tehran.

A group of more than 50 international relations and Middle East experts have signed onto a letter urging President-elect Joe Biden to swiftly return to the 2015 nuclear deal with Iran. The experts on Iran international relations and the non-proliferation of nuclear weapons voiced full support to the Biden administration’s commitment to abandon Trump’s failed policy toward Iran and his campaign of maximum pressure and returning the US to diplomacy and adherence to the JCPOA, the letter said. Full text of the letter reads as follows: ...

Although the Supreme Leader left room for Biden to return to the nuclear deal and dialed down the vengeful rhetoric, his main message was that Iran cannot trust Washington when it comes to economic matters, security issues, or even coronavirus vaccines.