The Biden administration has indicated willingness to lift some sanctions on Iran in order to return to the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action.

โ€œWe are prepared to take the steps necessary to return to compliance with the JCPOA, including by lifting sanctions that are inconsistent with the JCPOA. I am not in a position here to give you chapter and verse on what those might be,โ€ State Department spokesman Ned Price said in comments reported by Reuters.

The Biden administration and Iranian representatives have begun talks in Vienna, Austria, seeking to return the JCPOA.

โ€œWe are not optimistic or pessimistic about the outcome of this meeting now, but we are confident that we are on the right track,โ€ Iranian government spokesman Ali Rabiei told reporters on Wednesday. โ€œSurely the full implementation of this agreement will be finalized within the coming weeks.โ€

Iran has threatened to ramp up uranium enrichment and halted compliance with the JCPOAโ€™s โ€œadditional protocol,โ€ which allowed snap inspections by International Atomic Energy Agency personnel.

The agreement, which sought to limit Iranโ€™s nuclear activities to energy use, was President Obamaโ€™s signature foreign policy achievement. President Trump subsequently withdrew from the JCPOA and reimposed economic sanctions on the country.

โ€œThis was a horrible one-sided deal that should have never, ever been made,โ€ Trump said at the time. โ€œIt didnโ€™t bring calm, it didnโ€™t bring peace, and it never will.โ€