News Agency
\nWashington
\nUS President Joe Biden on Friday named Robert Malley, who represented Washington during negotiations for the 2015 nuclear deal with Tehran, as his top envoy for Iran.
\nHe will be tasked with seeking stronger concessions from the regime in return for the US rejoining the nuclear deal and the easing of sanctions.
\nMalley\u2019s appointment was welcomed by Arab American leaders, who highlighted his strong record of direct involvement in the Israeli-Palestinian peace process under former presidents Barack Obama and Bill Clinton. Malley was instrumental in organizing the Camp David summit in 2000 to revive the Oslo Accords.
\nUS Secretary of State Anthony Blinken said Biden is building a strong team to deal with Iran and that Malley will be the point person in seeking a \u201clonger and stronger\u201d nuclear deal than the UN-backed Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) that was signed in 2015 by the five permanent members of the Security Council \u2014 the US, the UK, China, Russia and France \u2014 plus Germany and the EU.
\nPresident Donald Trump withdrew the US from that agreement in 2018 and reimposed sanctions on Tehran. His decision was applauded by leaders of the opposition National Council of Resistance of Iran, which had provided evidence that Tehran was continuing to expand its nuclear capabilities despite the JCPOA.
\nNed Price, Blinken\u2019s spokesman, told the Arab News that the administration is building \u201ca dedicated team, drawing from clear-eyed experts with a diversity of views.\u201d He said Malley \u201cbrings to the position a track record of success negotiating constraints on Iran\u2019s nuclear program. The secretary is confident he and his team will be able to do that once again.\u201d
\nPrice added: \u201cIf Iran comes back into full compliance with its obligations under the JCPOA, the United States would do the same,\u201d and emphasized that Biden will \u201cuse (the JCPOA) as a platform to build a longer and stronger agreement\u201d that also addresses other areas of concern about Iranian activities.
\nBut he cautioned: \u201cWe are a long way from that point as Iran is out of compliance on a number of fronts, and there are many steps in the process that we will need to evaluate. We will coordinate closely with our allies and partners, as well as with Congress.\u201d
\nAmerican Arab leaders who have worked with Malley spoke highly of his \u201cfairness\u201d and \u201cbalance\u201d when he worked on the Palestinian-Israeli peace process.
\nJim Zogby, president of the Arab American Institute in Washington, who worked closely with Malley during both the Clinton and Obama administrations, said the envoy brings \u201cprofessionalism and clarity\u201d to any issue he addresses.
\n\u201cHe is one of the most knowledgeable people we have had in that position in the 40 years I have been dealing with the White House and State Department,\u201d said Zogby. \u201cNo one is more knowledgeable on the Middle East, and is more balanced or fair, than Rob Malley.
\n\u201cHis engagement in the (Oslo) peace process was significant because he was pushing back on those who were more critical of (Palestine Liberation Organization leader Yasser) Arafat in the negotiations. When former Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak wrote a piece blaming Arafat for the failure of the peace talks, Rob Malley wrote a piece very strenuously arguing Barak was wrong. It wasn\u2019t a polite rebuttal, it was a strong rebuttal and that took courage.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
News Agency Washington US President Joe Biden on Friday named Robert Malley, who represented Washington during negotiations for the 2015 nuclear deal with Tehran, as his top envoy for Iran. He will be tasked with seeking stronger concessions from the regime in return for the US rejoining the nuclear deal and the easing of sanctions. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":171608,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-171593","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-world"],"yoast_head":"\n