Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif said that US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken should verify the reality to see that Washington had violated the nuclear agreement, after Blinken's statement stipulated that Tehran should fulfill its obligations to return to the agreement.

On Thursday, Zarif stressed that Washington's violation of the nuclear agreement and what he described as its economic terror against the Iranians, forces it to take the first step.

He said that the new US Secretary of State must not forget the policy failure of former US President Donald Trump and his maximum pressure.

Tensions escalated between Iran and the United States before the inauguration of US President Joe Biden as president of the country, to succeed President Donald Trump, who pursued a policy of pressure on Tehran, by withdrawing Washington from the nuclear deal, imposing economic sanctions and exchanging fiery statements between the two countries.

Blinken: Iran is no longer respecting its obligations on several fronts (Reuters)

Washington demands

In his first press conference following his assumption of office, Blinken said - from Washington - that President Joe Biden “said clearly that if Iran returns to full respect for its obligations” contained in the 2015 agreement, “the United States will do the same.”

"Iran is no longer honoring its obligations on several fronts. If it takes this decision to return to its commitments, it will take some time, and there is also a need for time to be able to assess its compliance with its obligations. We are far from that, this is the least that can be said," he added.

For its part, Tehran calls on Washington to lift the sanctions it imposes on it first, which threatens difficult negotiations between the two countries.

The agreement is supposed to prevent Iran from developing a nuclear bomb, which was signed by the major powers - led by the United States - under the presidency of Barack Obama, and the United Nations supported it, but former US President Donald Trump unilaterally withdrew his country from the agreement in 2018, considering it insufficient to curb it. Iran's nuclear activity and its "destabilizing activities" in the Middle East.

Trump re-imposed sanctions on Iran and gradually tightened them, and Tehran responded by gradually abandoning its obligations contained in the agreement.

Biden - who was Vice President Obama when the agreement was concluded - promised to resume dialogue and return to the agreement, considering that preventing Iran from developing a nuclear weapon is the most important priority.

Rouhani: We faced an unprecedented economic war, sanctions and conspiracies by the United States (Anatolia)

Position and criticism

For his part, Iranian Parliament Speaker Muhammad Baqir Qalibaf said that Tehran is not obligated to implement the nuclear deal if the rest of the parties do not abide by it.

Qalibaf added, after a tour of the Fordo nuclear facility, that Parliament would allow the government to return to implement the nuclear obligations, if sanctions were lifted on the country and the rest of the parties returned to it.

He indicated that the Iranian Atomic Energy Authority was able to produce 17 kilograms of uranium enriched by 20% in less than a month, and that it continues to install centrifuges, indicating that his country is not obliged to continue implementing its nuclear obligations.

In turn, Iranian President Hassan Rouhani said that his country faced an unprecedented economic war, sanctions and conspiracies by the United States within 3 years, as he put it.

He added that the previous US administration wanted to impose its policies on the country, but the Iranians overcame those pressures and failed them.

These developments come at a time when US President Joe Biden's candidate for the position of US ambassador to the United Nations, Linda Greenfield, confirmed that regional security in the Gulf region has witnessed a significant decline since the US withdrawal from the nuclear deal with Iran.

Greenfield added, in a hearing to confirm her position in the Senate, that she will try to find ways to work with Russia and China, to put pressure on Iran to push it to comply with international law.

Visit and talks

Meanwhile, the US Army Central Commander, Kenneth McKinsey, will arrive in Israel this afternoon, the first since President Joe Biden assumed office.

McKinsey will meet with the Chief of Staff of the IDF, Aviv Kochavi, and will also meet with Defense Minister Benny Gantz, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and senior leaders of the security services in Israel.

The visit comes after Kochavi's statement in which he said that he had instructed the Israeli army to prepare accurate plans to act militarily against Iran, describing the return to the nuclear agreement with it as bad for Israel.

It is expected that McKinsey will launch a strategic dialogue with Tel Aviv during his talks in Israel, regarding the new US administration’s desire to return to the nuclear agreement with Tehran.

Meanwhile, the US Central Command re-posted a picture on Twitter posted by the US Fifth Fleet of the Winston Churchill destroyer, and said it was in the Arabian Sea.

The Central Command commented on the tweet of the Fifth Fleet and the image of the destroyer with the phrase "always in watch."