Biden set to appoint nuclear deal architect as U.S. Iran envoy

PanARMENIAN.Net - The Biden administration is expected name Robert Malley, a former top adviser in the Obama administration, as special envoy for Iran, The Guardian reports citing multiple sources.

Malley was a key member of former Barack Obama’s team that negotiated the nuclear accord with Iran and world powers, an agreement that Donald Trump abandoned in 2018 in the face of strong opposition from Washington’s European allies.

“Secretary (of State) Blinken is building a dedicated team, drawing from clear-eyed experts with a diversity of views. 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,” a State Department official said.

“The secretary is confident he and his team will be able to do that once again,” the official said, speaking on the condition of anonymity.

Malley’s appointment would task him with one of the new administration’s most daunting and politically divisive foreign policy challenges. The post would make Malley the point person in Biden’s efforts to deal with Iran after years of worsening relations under Trump, who pulled out of a 2015 international nuclear deal with Tehran and reimposed crippling economic sanctions.