The story: The appointment of Richard Nephew as the US State Department’s Deputy Special Envoy for Iran has provoked ire in Tehran. Both Reformists and conservatives have a deeply pessimistic view of the American official, since he is known as the architect of the sanctions that former US president Barack Obama imposed on Iran during his 2009-2017 tenure.

The coverage: Nephew’s March 1 appointment as a deputy of Special Envoy for Iran Robert Malley has been widely covered by Iranian media. The context is that US President Joe Biden has stated that Washington would return to the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) if the Islamic Republic were to come back into compliance with its commitments.

The JCPOA was signed by Iran and the P5+1 (The US, Britain, France, Russia, China and Germany) in 2015. The deal imposes limits on Iran’s nuclear program in return for sanctions relief. In 2018, then-president Donald Trump withdrew the US from the deal.

Using the famous poster of the movie “ The Devil's Advocate, ” conservative Vatan-e Emrooz devoted its March 3 front page to Nephew, depicting him as an advocate of Satan.

“Nephew joins the Biden administration against the backdrop of the US government seeking to reach a broader agreement than the JCPOA—which was in fact the ultimate goal of the Trump-Pompeo team, ” wrote Vatan-e Emrooz. It added that Biden seeks such a broader accord “by leveraging the extensive sanctions imposed on Iran by the Trump administration,”

Meanwhile, Kayhan, a daily whose chief editor is appointed by Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, took a swipe at moderate Iranian President Hassan Rouhani. Its March 3 edition argued that Nephew’s appointment debunks mainly Reformist claims that Biden plans a swift return to the JCPOA.

On its part, the Reformist newspaper Shargh expressed its dismay with Biden’s “hesitation” to rejoin the 2015 nuclear deal, noting the serious possibility of the collapse of the JCPOA. In such a scenario, the paper argued, “Nephew will be part of the group that is in favor of the continuation of the sanctions.”

Meanwhile, in reply to a question about Nephew’s appointment, Mahmoud Vaezi, the Iranian President’s Chief of Staff, said on March 3, “The only thing that is important for us are the actions of the Biden administration.”

The context/analysis: Nephew was the Director for Iran on the National Security Staff in 2011-13, holding responsibility for managing the expansion of US sanctions. He also played a role in backchannel talks between Iran and the US in 2012-2013, which ultimately led to the JCPOA.

During Trump’s presidency, Nephew was openly critical of US policy towards Iran. In 2019, he told the Tehran Times, an English language daily close to the conservatives, “I have long believed that the JCPOA could not survive without US sanctions relief.”

Of note, Nephew’s 2017 book The Art of Sanctions was translated and published in 2018 by the Iranians parliament’s research center. The translation was reportedly ordered by then-parliament speaker Ali Larijani.

Iranian officials and analysts across the political spectrum have repeatedly taken advantage of Nephew’s book to prove their points. In 2018, Larijani called on Iran’s foreign ministry to counter US attempts to persuade foreign companies to cease their operations in the country. “You should contact [the companies too]. You should be the same as the guerillas in suits mentioned in The Art of Sanctions ,” implored Larijani.

In the same year, Farshad Momeni, a prominent economist, urged Iranian officials and lawmakers to read Nephew’s book in order not to adopt measures that would benefit the US.

The future: For the most part, Iranian media and officials do not have a positive view of Nephew as he is a symbol of the US sanctions so central to the dire condition of Iran’s economy.

When Robert Malley was named as Special Envoy for Iran, many in Tehran seemed to be hopeful about a quick return to the JCPOA on the part of the US. Soon, however, such hopes faded away as rejoining the deal did not appear to be among Biden’s top priorities. Rather, the US has called on Iran to be the first party to return to compliance with the provisions of the JCPOA. For this reason, even if an explicitly pro-Iran figure had been appointed instead of Nephew, this would not automatically propel Tehran to welcome such news.

Meanwhile, some observers are assuming that Nephew’s appointment may actually be a positive signal. This assumption is made on the basis that he knows how to lift the complex web of sanctions that Trump imposed—including under the rubric of the alleged threat of Iranian terrorism. However, Iran’s main priority will likely continue to be to await concrete action on the part of the Biden administration, as opposed to individual appointments.