The US opens the door to resume negotiations on the nuclear deal with Iran, but Tehran sets conditions

“The E3s (France, the United Kingdom and Germany) and the United States have affirmed their common objective that Iran return to full respect of its commitments regarding the JCPOA. The Secretary [Antony J.] Blinken reiterated that, as President Biden has said, if Iran strictly again fulfills its commitments under the JCPOA, the United States will do the same and is ready to enter into talks with Iran to that end, “the joint statement says that the ministers the European and US Foreign Ministry published on Thursday after a meeting addressing the issue.

This US gesture comes at a “critical moment” to resolve the conflict, according to the EU diplomatic representative, Enrique Mora.

Iran has not formally responded to the proposal, but the first reaction from the Hassan Rouhani government shows the delicate balance to bring the negotiations to fruition.

Its foreign minister, Mohammad Javad Zarif, suggested in a tweet that the country would only fully comply with the agreement once the US sanctions have been lifted.

“Our corrective measures are a response to US / E3 violations. Eliminate the cause if they fear the effect. We will respond to ACTION with action,” he wrote on his personal account.

Iran has increased pressure on the Biden Executive, threatening to block international inspections of its nuclear facilities if the US does not lift sanctions.

Since Trump withdrew from the agreement, Iran, which claims its nuclear program is peaceful, has resumed or initiated nuclear activities prohibited by its terms. Something that has increased suspicions among the signatories about Tehran’s intentions.

For its part, the US and its European allies they ask you to refrain from blocking inspections, warning in its statement that this measure would be “dangerous.”

And they warned of their commitment that Iran “can never develop a nuclear weapon.”

Thus, the next step to elucidate seems to be who gives in first to sit at the negotiating table.

Biden, who has eased travel restrictions on Iranian UN diplomats, says he will lift sanctions when Iran resumes compliance with the agreement, reports Barbara Plett-Usher, a specialist journalist with the BBC. For its part, Iran demands that they cease now.

Suspicions that Iran was using its nuclear program as a cover to develop a nuclear bomb led the EU, the United States and the UN to impose sanctions in 2010.

In 2015, Iran reached an agreement with six powers – the United States, the United Kingdom, France, China, Russia and Germany – limiting its nuclear activities in exchange for sanctions relief.

Under the terms of the agreement, Iran agreed to limit its enrichment of uranium and allow international inspectors access to its facilities.

Trump abandoned the agreement in May 2018 and reinstated US sanctions.

I wanted a new deal that would also slow down Iran’s ballistic missile program and their participation in regional conflicts.

Iran refused and, when the sanctions went into effect, plunged into a economic crisis.

Since sanctions were tightened in 2019, Iran has acted to stop international inspections of its nuclear facilities and stepped up uranium enrichment, in breach of the agreement.

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