Iran warns of ‘serious reaction’ to nuclear censorship, says Joe Biden is ‘buying time’

Iran has warned of retaliation if European signatories to the Joint Global Action Plan continue with their plan to censor Tehran at the next summit of the International Atomic Energy Agency, while Iranian leaders try to persuade President Joe Biden to lift US sanctions on the country.

The IAEA is due to hold a quarterly meeting this week in Vienna, where European JCPOA signatories – known collectively as E3 – are planning to issue a resolution criticizing Iran’s repeated refusal to curtail its nuclear program. According to Reuters, the draft resolution expresses “serious concern” about Iranian activity.

Iran has been moving away from JCPOA restrictions since former President Donald Trump pulled the U.S. out of the deal in 2018 and began imposing new sanctions on the country.

Despite international pressure and a change in the American administration, Iran continued to expand its nuclear program in response to foreign murders and sanctions.

Iran is demanding that President Joe Biden suspend sanctions from the Trump era before returning to comply with the JCPOA. But the Biden government wants Iran to reduce its nuclear program before sanctions are eased, although it said it was open to multilateral negotiations to chart a diplomatic way out of the impasse.

The other signatories – Germany, France, the United Kingdom, China and Russia – expressed support for the resumption of the agreement. E3 opposed Trump’s “maximum pressure” campaign, but is now coordinating with Biden’s team.

Iran accused E3 of failing to face Trump and not doing enough to protect the JCPOA, leaving Iran to face increasingly severe economic sanctions, even as the country struggled with the coronavirus pandemic.

An IAEA censorship would further irritate Tehran and – warned Foreign Minister Javad Zarif – could cause retaliation.

Zarif met with members of the Parliamentary Committee on National Security and Foreign Policy this week to discuss the latest threat from the IAEA, the agency’s spokesman, Abolfazl Amouyee, told the Fars News Agency on Monday.

“The Foreign Minister presented a report on the latest developments to the IAEA Board of Governors during the meeting,” said Amouyee, “and said that if any destructive resolution is issued against Iran on the IAEA board of governors, Iran will show a serious reaction. “

Zarif told reporters on Monday: “Europeans have initiated wrong action in support of the United States,” referring to the planned censorship at the next IAEA meeting.

Iran rejected the US proposal for further negotiations, refusing any meeting until US sanctions are lifted. This icy response, combined with eye-for-eye attacks between American forces and Iraqi militias aligned with Iran, raised concerns that the road to JCPOA’s revival is narrowing.

But the Biden government remained committed to diplomacy, even with conservatives in the United States and foreign allies, including Israel, working to undermine the deal and sharpen America’s position in Iran.

State Department spokesman Ned Price said on Monday that the United States “is not dogmatic” about the format of future JCPOA negotiations with Iran, as long as any discussions are held with foreign partners. “We are dogmatic that the best way to discuss the way forward is through dialogue,” said Price.

But the Iranian government, led by moderate President Hassan Rouhani, whose term ends this summer, is holding on. Government spokesman Ali Rabiyee told reporters on Monday: “We are not going to give in to the endless game that aims to buy time for the U.S. government and delay the lifting of sanctions,” according to Iran’s ISNA news agency. .

Rouhani is likely to be replaced by a conservative candidate when his term ends, possibly a member of the powerful Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps. Rouhani, who signed the JCPOA with President Barack Obama in 2015, has a window of opportunity for quick closure to revive the historic deal.

The Rouhani government is facing its own internal pressure on JCPOA. Conservatives – who now dominate parliament after last year’s elections – view the deal with skepticism and, for many, Trump’s withdrawal from the deal and the subsequent “maximum pressure” campaign is proof that the USA to comply with any agreement.