At least three members of the US team negotiating with Iran over restoring the 2015 nuclear deal have quit due to the Biden administration’s soft stance, The Wall Street Journal reported on Tuesday.

According to the report, US officials confirmed over the weekend that Richard Nephew, the deputy special envoy for Iran, has quit the team. Nephew hasn’t been part of the team since early December after he left due to his frustration over the Biden administration’s failure to maintain a harder negotiating stance. Two other members of the team left for the same reason.

There are no deadlines set for the talks, which leaves Western diplomats doubting that the Biden administration would let anything get in their way of forging an agreement.

Officials familiar with the negotiations told the WSJ that conflicting opinions have divided the US negotiation team, headed by State Department veteran Robert Malley, since the summer. Additionally, some members of the team wanted to leave the talks in early December after Iran’s new negotiation team under the “Butcher of Iran,” President Ebrahim Raisi, returned to Vienna and reversed most of the concessions the previous government made. The Biden administration chose to continue talks despite Iran’s reversals.

There were also conflicting opinions among the US team about whether to demand that the International Atomic Energy Agency board censure Iran last year for preventing inspectors from monitoring its nuclear activities. The Biden administration chose not to take action on the issue after Tehran said it would torpedo talks.

The report follows an earlier report on Monday that the US State Department said it is ready to hold direct talks with Iran following a statement from Tehran that it would consider the option.

“We are prepared to meet directly,” a State Department spokesperson said, quoted by France24.

“We have long held the position that it would be more productive to engage with Iran directly, on both JCPOA negotiations and other issues,” the spokesperson added.

(YWN Israel Desk – Jerusalem)