Biden says Iran should return to nuclear deal before sanction eases

WASHINGTON – President Joe Biden said the United States will not offer relief from sanctions as a way to lure Iran back to the negotiating table on the country’s nuclear program.

Biden, in a clip from a CBS interview on Sunday, indicated that Iran would have to stop enriching uranium before his government lifted sanctions.

When asked whether the United States would lift sanctions to bring Iran back to the negotiating table, Biden said “no”.

Tensions between Washington and Tehran increased after former President Donald Trump’s withdrawal from the historic nuclear deal.

The 2015 Joint Joint Action Plan, brokered by the Obama administration, lifted sanctions against Iran that hurt its economy and cut its oil exports almost in half. In exchange for easing sanctions, Iran accepted limits on its nuclear program until the terms expired in 2025.

The United States and its European allies believe that Iran has ambitions to develop a nuclear bomb. Tehran has denied this charge.

Trump withdrew the United States from the JCPOA in 2018, calling it “the worst deal ever”

After Washington’s withdrawal from the historic nuclear deal, other signatories to the pact – France, Germany, the United Kingdom, Russia and China – tried to keep the deal alive.

Tehran refused to negotiate as long as U.S. sanctions remain in place.

Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, reiterated on Sunday that Tehran would not comply with the 2015 nuclear deal until Washington lifted sanctions, Iranian state television reported.

“Iran has fulfilled all its obligations under the agreement, not the United States and the three European countries … If they want Iran to return to its commitments, the United States must in practice … lift all sanctions,” said state TV Khamenei as saying.

“Then, after verifying that all sanctions have been lifted correctly, we will return to full compliance,” he added.

Deadlock with Iran

Washington’s tense relationship with Tehran has taken several turns in the Trump administration, which has pushed opponents to the brink of war.

Last year, the United States carried out an air strike that killed Qasem Soleimani, Iran’s top military commander.

Soleimani’s death led the regime to further reduce compliance with the international nuclear pact. In January, Iran said it would no longer limit its ability to enrich uranium or nuclear research.

In October, the United States unilaterally reimposed UN sanctions on Tehran through a snapback process, which other members of the UN Security Council previously said Washington had no authority to execute because it withdrew from the 2018 nuclear deal.

A month later, a leading Iranian nuclear scientist was murdered near Tehran, prompting the Iranian government to claim that Israel was behind the attack with US support.

During the summer of 2019, a series of attacks in the Persian Gulf further contributed to the deteriorating relationship.

In June, US officials said an Iranian surface-to-air missile dropped an American military surveillance drone over the Strait of Hormuz. Iran said the aircraft was over its territory.

The attack came a week after the United States blamed Iran for attacks on two oil tankers in the Persian Gulf region and after four oil tankers were attacked in May.

In June, the United States imposed new sanctions on Iranian military leaders accused of toppling the drone. The measures were also aimed at blocking financial resources for Khamenei.

Tensions rose again in September last year, when the United States blamed Iran for attacks in Saudi Arabia on the world’s largest oil processing plant and oil field.

This attack forced the kingdom to cut its production operations in half and triggered the biggest rise in oil prices in decades and renewed concerns about a new war in the Middle East. Iran says it was not responsible for the attacks.