Minister: Iran will return to nuclear talks `very soon’

By EDITH M. LEDERER
Associated Press

UNITED NATIONS (AP) — Iran’s new foreign minister says the country will return to nuclear negotiations “very soon.” But Hossain Amir Abdollah accused the Biden administration of sending contradictory messages — saying it wants to rejoin the 2015 nuclear deal while slapping new sanctions on Tehran and not taking “an iota of positive action” toward the country. Former President Donald Trump denounced the nuclear accord and withdrew the U.S. from the agreement in 2018. Biden and his team have made a U.S. return to the deal one of their top foreign policy priorities. The deal was one of President Barack Obama’s signature achievements, one that aides now serving in the Biden administration helped negotiate.