WASHINGTON: The new US administration has named Rob Malley, an architect of the 2015 nuclear deal with Iran, as its special envoy to resume talks with Tehran.
Secretary of State Antony Blinken “is building a dedicated team, drawing from clear-eyed experts with a diversity of views,” State Department spokesman Ned Price said.
“Leading that team as our special envoy for Iran will be Rob Malley, who brings to the position a track record of success negotiating constraints on Iran’s nuclear program,” he said.
Malley, a childhood friend of Blinken, has been serving as head of the International Crisis Group, an independent non-governmental organization focused on conflict resolution.
Before that, he was one of the chief negotiators on the 2015 nuclear deal between Iran and world powers, under which Tehran was promised economic relief for major curbs in its contested nuclear program.
The deal was reached under Barack Obama, when President Joe Biden was his number two. In 2018, Donald Trump unilaterally withdrew the United States from the accord, saying it should have also covered Iran’s “destabilizing” activities in the Middle East and imposed tough sanctions on Tehran.
This week, Blinken confirmed the new US administration’s intention to rejoin the accord but only once Tehran returns to compliance. Iran had pulled back from its commitments to protest Trump’s sanctions and insists that Biden now act first.
The International Crisis Group recommended that the United States and Iran adopt a staggered approach with the new administration committing to withdraw sanctions and Iran agreeing to a timetable for compliance.
Jake Sullivan, Biden’s national security advisor, pointed to Iran’s growing nuclear work under Trump and said that re-establishing constraints through diplomacy was a “critical early priority” for Biden.
Before he was even named to the Iran post, rumors of Malley’s nomination prompted sharp criticism from allies of the defeated president.
US scholar Xiyue Wang who was jailed while doing historical research in Iran accused Malley of not doing enough to secure his release while he was in the Obama administration.
Wang said that Malley’s appointment showed that Blinken’s calls both to strengthen the nuclear deal and take up human rights were “merely empty words.”
In a letter released on Thursday, some 200 former officials and activists voiced support for Malley, denouncing “smear tactics” by those who would never support diplomacy.
Jason Rezaian, a Washington Post journalist who was imprisoned in Iran, said that Malley was crucial in negotiating his release in 2016 and said he spent hours speaking with him and others set to serve Biden.
