Iranian missile display in Tehran
Iranian missile display in TehranReuters

Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif on Monday suggested a path to overcome the impasse with the United States over who first returns to the 2015 Iran nuclear deal.

Speaking to CNN and quoted by Reuters, Zarif said, “There can be a mechanism to basically either synchronize it or coordinate what can be done.”

Zarif noted the agreement created a Joint Commission coordinated by the European Union foreign policy chief, a role currently held by Josep Borrell.

Borrell, said the Iranian Foreign Minister, “can ... sort of choreograph the actions that are needed to be taken by the United States and the actions that are needed to be taken by Iran.”

The commission includes Iran and the six other parties to the deal: Britain, China, France, Germany, Russia and the United States.

Former US President Donald Trump withdrew from the 2015 agreement nearly three years ago and reimposed sanctions on Iran. The Islamic Republic, in turn, has gradually scaled back its compliance with the 2015 deal.

Current President Joe Biden has expressed a desire to return to the 2015 agreement and recently told The New York Times that he would return to the 2015 agreement if Iran returned to compliance with it.

Iran has repeatedly made clear that it will not renegotiate the original agreement. Zarif just last week urged Biden to "choose a better path" by returning to the 2015 deal and warned that the opportunity would be lost if Washington insists on further Iranian concessions up front.