The United States will not lift sanctions on Iran to bring it back to the negotiating table on the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) - an agreement on Tehran's nuclear program.

This was stated by US President Joe Biden in an interview with CBS TV channel.

The host of Face The Nation asked Biden if he plans to take the first step and lift sanctions to bring Iran back to the negotiating table on a nuclear deal.

“No,” Biden replied, agreeing with the presenter that Tehran must first stop enriching uranium.

With Iran resuming its enrichment of uranium, @NorahODonnell asks Pres.

Biden if the US will lift sanctions first in order to get Iran back to the negotiating table on a nuclear deal.



“No,” Pres.

Biden says, affirming that Iran will have to stop its enrichment program first.

pic.twitter.com/SmkvtE1BYo

- CBS Evening News (@CBSEveningNews) February 7, 2021

On the eve of the Foreign Minister of the Islamic Republic Mohammad Javad Zarif made a statement from which it followed that the Biden administration had no more than two weeks left to take steps to return to the nuclear deal with Iran.

“The Americans do not have much time, both because of the parliamentary bill and because of the pre-election atmosphere that will be established after the Iranian new year,” Al Jazeera TV channel quoted him as saying.

The bill mentioned by Zarif was adopted by the Iranian parliament in December 2020.

He sets a deadline until February 21, during which Washington must ease sanctions against Tehran.

Otherwise, the government is obliged to take a tougher position on the nuclear issue.

"The more America delays making a decision, the more it will lose ... It will look as if the Biden administration does not want to get rid of Trump's unfortunate legacy," Zarif said.

At the same time, the Iranian Foreign Minister noted that he does not see the need for bilateral negotiations with the United States.

Zarif recalled that the coordinator of the treaty is the head of European diplomacy, Josep Borrell, through whom communication on the nuclear deal can be carried out.

In addition, according to the Iranian Foreign Minister, America should be the first to take the initiative to return to the negotiating table.

“We don't need to return to the negotiating table.

It is America that needs to find a way to sit down for him, ”he added.

Nuclear deal

Recall that in 2015, the United States, with the participation of Germany, France, Great Britain, Russia and China, entered into an agreement with Iran called the Joint Comprehensive Action Plan, also known as the nuclear deal.

According to the terms of the treaty, the Iranian side refused to develop nuclear weapons in exchange for lifting economic sanctions from the country.

  • Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad-Javad Zarif

  • Reuters

  • © Dalati Nohra

In May 2018, the United States, under the leadership of Donald Trump, unilaterally withdrew from the nuclear deal.

Washington claimed that Tehran allegedly violated the terms of the JCPOA.

At the same time, the rest of the parties to the treaty and the IAEA have repeatedly stressed that Iran fulfills all the terms of the deal and does not develop nuclear weapons.

Following Washington's withdrawal from the agreement, the Trump administration has resumed sanctions against Iran and imposed new restrictions.

In response, in 2019, Tehran announced the beginning of a phased reduction of its obligations under the agreement, abandoning restrictions in the field of nuclear research, including on uranium enrichment and the number of centrifuges required for this process.

At the same time, the Iranian side has repeatedly stated that it does not seek to acquire nuclear weapons.

This position was again voiced by the head of the country's Foreign Ministry in early February 2021, Javad Zarif.

“Iran is not trying to create nuclear weapons.

If we wanted to create it, we would have done it a long time ago, but we decided that nuclear weapons would not be able to enhance our security and that they contradict our ideological views, ”Zarif said.

Negotiating position

Joe Biden announced during his election campaign that he intends to return Washington to the JCPOA.

After Biden won the presidential election, his national security adviser Jake Sullivan reiterated the Democrat's intention to make the US part of the Iran deal again.

At the same time, representatives of Washington argue that for the United States to return to the JCPOA, Iran must first return to compliance with its obligations.

Thus, in his first public statements as Secretary of State, Anthony Blinken stated that President Biden's policy was that "if Iran returns to full compliance with its obligations under the JCPOA, the United States will follow its example."

  • US President Joe Biden

  • Reuters

  • © Kevin Lamarque

According to the head of the State Department, if Iran returns to the deal, Washington will seek to create "a more long-term and reliable agreement" that will address other "more problematic" issues.

“Iran does not follow commitments in a number of areas, and it will take some time to return to compliance if it makes such a decision.

We will also need time to make sure that Iran is complying with its obligations, ”Blinken said.

At the same time, information has already appeared in the American media that the 46th President of the United States may try to maintain the sanctions against Iran imposed by his predecessor.

In particular, Bloomberg reported this with reference to four sources close to the Biden administration at once.

According to the interlocutors of the agency, the White House can offer financial assistance to Tehran to fight the coronavirus pandemic through the IMF and ease the sanctions that have limited the flow of international aid to the country to fight the coronavirus.

However, as noted by sources, there is no talk of lifting more serious sanctions, for example, the embargo on oil trade.

Despite the earlier announced intention of Biden and his cabinet to reconsider Trump's course towards Iran, the status of the Islamic republic as a state hostile to the United States will remain, said Konstantin Blokhin, a researcher at the Center for Security Studies of the Russian Academy of Sciences.  

"The American elite will continue to perceive Iran as a rogue country, will consider it as a problem for the United States and its allies, primarily Israel and Saudi Arabia," the interlocutor of RT explained.

Biden's declared course of returning to the deal is opposed by serious forces, for example, the pro-Israel lobby, the expert emphasized.

In turn, Andrei Koshkin, a member of the Academy of Military Sciences, in a conversation with RT, noted that a contradictory situation had developed around the statements of Biden and his team about the return of the United States to the nuclear deal.

“To a certain extent, the position of the Biden administration initially reassured all parties to the deal, including Iran.

But at the same time, Tehran is very wary, admitting that Washington may again fail to fulfill its obligations.

Publicly, Iran blames Trump, who initiated the withdrawal from the deal, and demonstrates hope that the Biden administration will eliminate this mistake, ”the political scientist said.

According to the expert, now the American side is putting pressure on Iran in order to get the maximum benefit if it returns to the JCPOA. 

“It is important to note that Biden, using the theme of a return to the nuclear deal, would like to get even more benefits for the United States.

At the same time, Tehran sees Washington's unilateral desire to hurt it in order to create more favorable conditions for itself, therefore it is now publicly warning that additional search for benefits for the American side will not lead to a solution to the problem, ”the expert noted.

According to Koshkin, the US president came under pressure from political forces inside the country, so his statements do not look as optimistic as they were in words when he fought for the post of head of state.

At the same time, Konstantin Blokhin believes that the new US president is following the lead of groups in the American political establishment, which are traditionally negatively disposed towards Iran.

"Biden is now trying to sit on two chairs: he is trying to cool hot heads, to enlist the support of the Republican hawks and the Israeli lobby, which considers Iran as its main enemy, and at the same time wants to reach agreements with Tehran," the expert explained.

According to him, if Tehran demonstrates its readiness to sit at the negotiating table, Biden will thereby prove to these influential groups that the Iranian authorities are not so radical towards Washington and are ready for dialogue.

“Now everything depends on how the Iranian leadership will behave.

But it is possible that there may not be a refusal from the Iranian side, because Tehran perfectly remembers that this deal was made by the Obama administration, in which Biden was vice president, ”the political scientist concluded.