Sources close to the negotiations confirm that the Trump administration, in its final months, initiated backchannel efforts to revise the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) with Iran. The move, which bypassed the remaining signatories, has been met with stiff resistance from the UK, which insists on maintaining a robust multilateral framework.
Documents obtained by this newsroom reveal that US envoys proposed a series of amendments aimed at tightening restrictions on Iran's ballistic missile programme and extending sunset clauses on uranium enrichment. The proposals were floated in a series of undisclosed meetings in Geneva and Vienna between November 2020 and January 2021.
'It was a last-ditch attempt to salvage something from the wreckage of the JCPOA,' a former State Department official told this reporter. 'But the Iranians were playing hardball, and the Europeans were furious at being left out.'
The UK Foreign Office, sources say, was caught off-guard by the US overtures. British diplomats immediately convened with counterparts from France and Germany to draft a joint response, insisting that any amendments must be negotiated within the P5+1 framework. A leaked internal Foreign Office memo warns that unilateral US moves 'risk fragmenting the already fragile consensus' around the deal.
The timing of the disclosures is particularly sensitive. The Biden administration has signalled its intent to re-engage with Iran, but talks in Vienna have stalled. Hardliners in Tehran are demanding the lifting of all sanctions before any return to compliance, while Washington insists on a phased approach.
'Iran has always played a long game,' said a senior analyst at Chatham House. 'They see the potential for division between the US and Europe as their best leverage.'
Indeed, the US efforts to reopen the deal unilaterally have left scars. European diplomats now view any future negotiations with heightened suspicion. 'Trust has been damaged,' a UK diplomat admitted. 'We need binding commitments that no one party can change the agreement without consensus.'
The push for a 'robust multilateral framework' is not just about the JCPOA. UK officials see it as a test case for post-Brexit Britain's role as a bridge between the US and Europe. 'We cannot afford to be sidelined,' a senior Whitehall figure said. 'If the US and Iran cut a bilateral deal, the whole non-proliferation regime is undermined.'
Iran's response to the proposed US edits has been dismissive. An Iranian foreign ministry spokesperson told state media that 'the previous administration's policies were bankrupt then and remain irrelevant now.' However, behind the scenes, Iranian negotiators have been studying the proposals, according to intelligence sources.
The revelations come as the International Atomic Energy Agency reports that Iran has enriched uranium to 60% purity, just shy of weapons-grade. The watchdog also confirms that Iran has restricted access to key sites. 'Every day the deal remains in limbo, Iran gets closer to breakout capability,' warned a non-proliferation expert.
For the UK, the stakes could not be higher. British banks have already been penalised for inadvertently facilitating Iranian sanctions evasion. A breakdown of the JCPOA could see Iran-linked entities using London's financial markets once more. 'The Treasury is watching this like a hawk,' a former minister told me.
Meanwhile, Washington remains silent on the Trump-era edits. A State Department spokesperson said only that 'the United States remains committed to diplomacy to verifiably prevent Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon.'
But the archives tell a different story. The documents show the US was willing to gamble on a bilateral fix, fragmenting the alliance that made the original deal possible. As one European diplomat put it: 'This is a story about power, not about peace. And the UK is determined not to be a footnote.'
