VIENNA—Negotiators for the U.S. and Iran, working to revive an international deal aimed at restricting Tehran’s atomic ambitions, are looking for ways to untangle a knot of interlocking American sanctions in exchange for Tehran’s return to limits on its nuclear activities.
After former President Trump pulled out of the agreement in 2018, saying it didn’t go far enough, Washington reimposed sanctions lifted under the deal and imposed a raft of new ones. Some are related to Iran’s nuclear program; others target alleged human-rights abuses and terrorism as well as Tehran’s work on ballistic missiles.
In response, Iran began to roll back limits on uranium enrichment and other activities that were part of the 2015 accord, formally known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, or JCPOA.
Diplomats are trying to chart a course toward lifting of sanctions that have battered the Iranian economy with commensurate steps from Iran’s side.
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