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Malley was a key member of former President Barack Obama's team
that negotiated the 2015 nuclear accord with Iran and world
powers, an agreement that former president Donald Trump
abandoned in 2018 despite strong opposition from Washington's
European allies.
"Secretary Blinken is building a dedicated team, drawing from
clear-eyed experts with a diversity of views. Leading that team
as our Special Envoy for Iran will be Rob Malley, who brings to
the position a track record of success negotiating constraints
on Iran’s nuclear program," the State Department official said.
"The Secretary is confident he and his team will be able to do
that once again," the official, speaking on the condition of
anonymity, said, referring to Biden's Secretary of State Antony
Blinken.
When Malley's name first surfaced in news reports as a leading
candidate for the post, he drew criticism from some Republican
lawmakers and pro-Israel groups that expressed concern that he
would be soft on Iran and tough on Israel. But a number of
foreign policy veterans rushed to his defense, praising him as a
respected, even-handed diplomat.
The post would make Malley the point person in Biden's efforts
to deal with Iran after years of worsening relations under
Trump, who, after pulling out of the 2015 nuclear deal with
Tehran, reimposed crippling economic sanctions.
The Diplomatic news website was first to report on Malley's
expected appointment.
He held numerous senior positions in the Democratic
administrations of Obama and former President Bill Clinton with
a focus on Middle East and Gulf policymaking and informally
advised Biden's team during the 2020 campaign.
Most recently, he was the president of the International Crisis
Group, a non-profit organization focused on global conflict.
CRAFTING IRAN POLICY
Malley's expected appointment comes as Biden and his foreign
policy aides move to craft their approach to Iran. Malley is
expected to report directly to Blinken, a source familiar with
the matter said.
Biden's top diplomat on Wednesday stuck to the new
administration's stance that Tehran must resume complying with
the Iran nuclear deal before Washington would do so.
Making his first public comments on Iran as secretary of state,
Blinken reiterated Biden's policy "that if Iran comes back into
full compliance with its obligations under the JCPOA, the United
States would do the same thing."
But Iran's foreign minister, Mohammad Javad Zarif, said on
Twitter on Thursday that the United States should make the first
move by returning to the nuclear pact.
The nuclear deal, formally called the Joint Comprehensive Plan
of Action (JCPOA), was struck by Iran and six major powers and
committed Iran to restricting its nuclear program in return for
sanctions relief from the United States and others. Israel and
Gulf Arab states strongly opposed the deal as not stringent
enough on Tehran.
Malley, the son of an Egyptian journalist and Iran expert, was
an informal adviser to Obama's 2008 campaign but resigned after
it emerged he had met with representatives of the Palestinian
militant group Hamas while working for the International Crisis
Group.
Malley was later brought into the Obama administration, in which
Biden served as vice president, as a top Middle East adviser.
(Reporting by Matt Spetalnick and Arshad Mohammed; Additional
reporting by Humeyra Pamuk; Editing by Alistair Bell, Cynthia
Osterman, Peter Cooney and Raju Gopalakrishnan)
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