President Biden said Saturday that talks with Iran will resume in an effort to re-establish the Obama-era nuclear accord, as he and U. \u2026<\/b>
\nPresident Biden said Saturday that talks with Iran will resume in an effort to re-establish the Obama-era nuclear accord, as he and U.S. allies warned that Tehran has \u201caccelerated the pace of provocative nuclear steps.\u201d \u201cThey\u2019re scheduled to resume,\u201d Mr. Biden said in the first apparent public confirmation by the U.S. of a resumption in negotiations. Mr. Biden issued a joint statement with German Chancellor Angela Merkel, French President Emmanuel Macron and British Prime Minister Boris Johnson at the Group of 20 summit in Rome expressing \u201cour determination to ensure that Iran can never develop or acquire a nuclear weapon.\u201d The allies said they have a \u201cgrave and growing concern\u201d that Iran has stepped up its pace of producing \u201chighly enriched uranium and enriched uranium metal,\u201d which have no civilian uses. Iran has halted negotiations on a return to the nuclear agreement, formally known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action. Tehran has yet to commit to a date to return to nuclear talks in Vienna, which have been suspended since June, when Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi came to power. Former President Donald Trump withdrew the U.S. from the accord, arguing that it didn\u2019t prevent Iran from developing nuclear weapons. And former Vice President Mike Pence said in an address on Thursday that the Biden administration\u2019s decision to try to resurrect the nuclear deal known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, or JCPOA, is a mistake. \u201cWith our current administration\u2019s embrace with the JCPOA, their hesitation to condemn rockets being fired at our cherished ally Israel, the heartbreaking and disastrous withdrawal from Afghanistan, our adversaries may be sensing weakness in the current American administration,\u201d Mr. Pence said. \u201cThey may be emboldened to test our resolve. And in fact, they\u2019ve already begun to do so with reports of an Iranian drone attack on a U.S. base in Syria.\u201d \u201cWeakness arouses evil,\u201d Mr. Pence said. The Biden administration imposed new sanctions on Friday on two entities and four individuals connected to drone attacks by Iran \u2019s Revolutionary Guard Corps, including against U.S. forces. The U.N.\u2019s nuclear watchdog has said Iran is increasingly in violation of the nuclear deal. Britain, France, Germany, Russia, China and the European Union remain part of the agreement. \u201cWe welcome President Biden\u2019s clearly demonstrated commitment to return the U.S. to full compliance with the JCPOA and to stay in full compliance, so long as Iran does the same,\u201d said the statement by Mr. Biden and the other leaders. The western allies also warned that Iran \u2019s nuclear developments and restrictions on international monitoring by the International Atomic Energy Agency \u201cwill jeopardize the possibility of a return to\u201d the deal. \u201cWe call upon President Raisi to seize this opportunity and return to a good faith effort to conclude our negotiations as a matter of urgency,\u201d the leaders said in their communique. \u201cThat is the only sure way to avoid a dangerous escalation, which is not in any country\u2019s interest.\u201d \u2014 This article is based in part on wire-service reports.<\/p>\n