President Joe Biden says the United States will not lift sanctions on Iran in order to bring the country back to the negotiating table, and that the measure will only happen if Tehran stops enriching uranium.
Asked by CBS’s Norah O’Donnell whether he would move to begin Iranian nuclear talks, Biden said the U.S. would rejoin what is formally known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) once Tehran is once again in full compliance with the deal. The U.S. will rejoin the Iran nuclear deal, formally known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), once Tehran again fully complies with the deal.
Iran’s position is that since the U.S. withdrew from the deal in 2018, Washington should take the first step to remove the tough sanctions imposed by former President Trump (Trump) on Iranian leaders, on individuals and the economy, and on terrorism. Iran is increasingly violating its obligations under the nuclear deal after the Trump Administration withdrew from the agreement.
Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said Sunday (Feb. 7) that the United States “must lift all sanctions” if it wants Tehran to return to the deal. He stressed that Iran can only return to compliance with the comprehensive Iran nuclear deal when the U.S. effectively lifts sanctions on Iran and after verification and confirmation by the Iranian side.
Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif told CNN on Sunday that the U.S. is the country that needs to return to the pact and that Iran has never left it.
Tehran’s parliament passed legislation on Dec. 2 that would periodically increase Iran’s nuclear activities if its demands for the lifting of sanctions, including on its banking and oil sectors, are not met.
In January, Tehran announced it had restored the purity of enriched uranium to 20 percent, well beyond what was stipulated in the 2015 nuclear deal.
Iranian nuclear officials have also increased uranium enrichment capacity at the Natanz facility. Last Monday, Iran aired a video that claimed it had the “most powerful” rocket engines and used systems that could launch long-range missiles capable of threatening U.S. allies in Europe and the Middle East or the U.S. homeland.
In a media interview last December, Biden said a return to the 2015 nuclear deal with Iran would be the best way to avoid a nuclear arms race in the Middle East.
On Jan. 22, Iran took the opportunity to call on the new U.S. administration to “unconditionally” lift the sanctions imposed on Iran by Trump and save the Iran nuclear deal reached in 2015 during Barack Obama’s presidency.
On Jan. 26, Israel’s Aviv Kochavi, a member of the Israeli government, called on the new U.S. government to “conditionally” lift sanctions on Iran and save the Iran nuclear deal reached in 2015 under Barack Obama. In a speech at Tel Aviv University’s Institute for National Security Studies, Lt. Gen. Aviv Kochavi said Israel is developing plans to attack Iran and has them on the table. The reason for this is that Iran has begun restarting its nuclear program in recent months. Any return to the Iran nuclear deal by the United States would be wrong.
This rare Israeli statement is an obvious signal to the Biden Administration to exercise caution in any diplomatic contacts with Iran.
Recent Comments