Blinken: We still believe diplomacy is the best path forward

Secretary of State Antony Blinken said that the US is absolutely in lockstep together with Germany, France, and the United Kingdom on coordinating a plan to get Iran back into a nuclear agreement.

"We continue to believe that diplomacy is the best way to deal with the challenges, the threat posed by Iran’s nuclear program," Blinken said on CNN’s “State of the Union.”

Speaking from Rome at the tail end of the G-20 conference, Blinken said US President Joe Biden has met with his German, French, and British counterparts to discuss dealing with the threat of Iran’s nuclear program.

The new coordination represents a shift in tone for the US, which was part of the international deal negotiated with Iran in 2015 but which, during President Donald Trump’s presidency, withdrew from the agreement.

The Biden administration has said it wants to be part of an agreement with Iran, but talks in Vienna have not resolved the outstanding issues.

"There’s still a window through which Iran can come back to the talks, and we can come back to mutual compliance with the agreement, and that would be the best result. But it really depends on whether Iran is serious about doing that," Blinken said.

Blinken added that if Iran chooses not to “engage in a meaningful way and get back into compliance,” then the US and the other countries in the agreement — Russia, and China were also part of the 2015 deal — will look at all of the options necessary to deal with this problem.

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