The United States has recently indicated the odds are high that it will return to the JCPOA, which Donald Trump withdrew the country from in May 2018. However, Iran, although praising the accord, stressed its revival would be meaningless if the US sanctions remain in place.
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken has told the UN-sponsored Conference on Disarmament in Geneva that the United States seeks to “lengthen and strengthen” the agreement between world powers and Iran on its nuclear programme, and aims to tackle the Islamic Republic’s “destabilising regional behaviour and ballistic missile development”.
The flag of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) flutters in front of the IAEA building in Vienna on July 10, 2019. – The UN’s nuclear watchdog will hold a special meeting on Iran’s nuclear programme, after Tehran breached one of the limits set in a 2015 deal with world powers.
Iran must comply with safeguard agreements made over the weekend with the UN nuclear watchdog IAEA, and its international obligations, Blinken separately stressed, adding that the US remains committed to ensuring Iran never acquires nuclear weapons. He added that he sees diplomacy as the best possible path to achieve this goal.
President Joe Biden declared on Thursday that the US is set to sit down for “informal” talks with the Iranians, which would be hosted by the EU and attended by the UK, Russia, and China, as Tehran has demanded relief from the harsh Trump-imposed sanctions. The easing of the sanctions would thus come as a price for talks to resume.
U.S. President Joe Biden delivers remarks as he takes part in a Munich Security Conference virtual event from the East Room at the White House in Washington, U.S., February 19, 2021.
However, the United States’ return to the Iran deal would be pointless were Washington not to lift all the sanctions it has slapped on Tehran first, Iranian officials warned.
There are, meanwhile, indications that sanctions will be reversed, although the administration insists that diplomatic negotiations should be held first.
The United States previously noted that Tehran must return to full compliance with the terms of the 2015 nuclear deal before Washington can restore its membership, and urged the Islamic Republic to reduce its uranium enrichment activities.
Russia’s Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov meets Iran’s Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif in Moscow
Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif responded that his country is not trying to create nuclear weapons, stressing that Tehran’s steps on the JCPOA, taken after the US withdrawal, are reversible. He thereby referred to Iran slowly moving to turn a blind eye in recent months to its commitments under the landmark accord after the US’ withdrawal and the “inability” of other – European – partners under the deal to do anything about it.
Iran signed the JCPOA in 2015 with the UN Security Council’s five permanent members (of which one is the US) and a number of EU countries. The accord stipulated that Iran curb its nuclear programme in exchange for sanctions relief, including lifting the arms embargo five years after the deal took force. However, the Trump administration withdrew from the deal and reinstated sanctions against the Islamic Republic under his so-called “maximum pressure” policy, forcing Tehran gradually to suspend its obligations under the accord.
Iranian lawmakers burn two pieces of papers representing the U.S. flag and the nuclear deal as they chant slogans against the U.S. at the parliament in Tehran, Iran, Wednesday, May 9, 2018
In December, Iran stepped up its research in the wake of the assassination of nuclear physicist Mohsen Fakhrizadeh. The country’s parliament adopted a new law, allowing an increase in its uranium enrichment and stipulating that there will be no UN inspections of its nuclear sites. In early January, Iran’s atomic energy organisation boasted about the country’s success in enriching uranium to 20 percent at the Fordow Fuel Enrichment Plant.
Sourse: sputniknews.com
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