- The US is prepared to lift sanctions against Iran ‘in conflict’ with the 2015 nuclear deal.
- The Foreign Ministry did not provide details on what sanctions could be lifted.
- The US and Iran are involved in indirect talks in Vienna as part of an effort to revive the agreement.
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The foreign ministry said on Wednesday that the US was prepared to lift sanctions against Iran that were “in conflict” with the 2015 nuclear deal.
“We are prepared to take the necessary steps to return to compliance with the JCPOA, including by lifting sanctions that are in conflict with the JCPOA. I am not here to give you a chapter and verse on what it can not be, “said the Foreign Ministry. spokesman Ned Price told reporters, according to Reuters. Prince uses the abbreviation for the formal name of the 2015 treaty – the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA).
The White House did not comment and was postponed to the State Department when contacted by Insider.
Price’s comments come as US and Iranian officials engage in indirect talks in Vienna – through European intermediaries – as part of an effort to revive nuclear power.
In Vienna, the US and Iran agreed to set up working groups with the aim of reconciling the agreement with both parties in a synchronized manner. This agreement is considered by experts as a sign of progress in restoring the agreement, although it is incremental.
“This is an important positive step, but it is not going to be easy to re-enter the JCPOA,” said Ilan Goldenberg, security director for the Middle East at the Center for New American Security in Washington, DC. news said. via Twitter. “It’s going to take time and difficult negotiations, and it’s going to be better if the US and Iran can talk directly. But still. Significant progress.”
“Good news,” said Matt Duss, foreign policy adviser to Senator Bernie Sanders. tweeted in response to the development.
The 2015 nuclear deal is designed to prevent Iran from developing a nuclear weapon in exchange for easing economic sanctions. Critics of the deal said it did not go far enough to prevent Tehran from becoming a nuclear power, and also claimed that the treaty was weak in addressing Iran’s regional behavior and missile program.
President Donald Trump, at the time, withdrew from the JCPOA in May 2018 and reinstated the sanctions against Iran, sparking a series of events that raised tensions between Washington and Tehran to historic heights – raising fears of a caused new war in the Middle East. The Trump administration has successfully tried to persuade Iran to negotiate a stricter version of the 2015 agreement via tough economic sanctions as part of a ‘maximum pressure’ campaign.
Before Trump withdrew from the JCPOA, Iran’s breakthrough time for a nuclear weapon was about a year, but U.S. officials say it is now closer to a few months. Iran remained committed to the deal for almost a year after the US withdrew, but gradually took steps from the deal before effectively abandoning it after Trump ordered a drone strike in January 2020 that targeted the country’s top officials. general, Qassem Soleimani, killed.
President Joe Biden at the campaign promised to revive the agreement. But Iran insisted it would not return to compliance until the US lifted sanctions. Meanwhile, Biden’s government has insisted that Iran prove its compliance with the treaty before the US moves forward with sanctions easing. The Vienna talks are the first significant attempt to break the dead-end street in the Biden era.