The US has no plans to lift sanctions on Iran or take any additional steps before meeting with Tehran and other participants of the nuclear deal, the White House said on Friday.
“There’s no plan to take additional steps in advance of having a conversation — a diplomatic conversation,” White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki told reporters when asked if the US would lift sanctions ahead of talks with Iran.
On Thursday, the State Department said the US would accept an invitation from the EU to meet with Iran and other nuclear deal participants. The statement is the first sign that the Biden administration might move to change the failed “maximum pressure” campaign of the previous administration.
Following the statement, Iran’s Foreign Minister Javad Zarif reiterated Tehran’s call for sanctions relief. He said Iran would “immediately” reverse the steps it has taken to increase nuclear activity to comply with the limits set by the JCPOA if the US lifts sanctions.
An EU official told Reuters that the EU is working to organize a meeting of the nuclear deal participants and the US. Zarif had previously suggested that the EU could help coordinate the actions needed to be taken by the US and Iran to revive the JCPOA.
Psaki said there were no plans for direct US-Iran talks without the European signatories to the deal. “This is the channel that we have used in the past, working in partnership with our P5+1 partners. That’s the diplomatic channel we anticipate taking moving forward,” she said. The P5+1 refers to the five permanent members of the UN Security Council plus Germany.
While the Biden administration is willing to talk with Iran, other comments suggest the US might make additional demands of Tehran. In a speech on Friday, President Biden said he was ready to reengage with the P5+1 but also said, “We must also address Iran’s destabilizing activities across the Middle East.”
Psaki also discussed the possibility of a stricter agreement. “As we look ahead, would be a desire to have a conversation about their role in the region, their use of ballistic missiles, and that certainly is the administration’s objective,” she said. Any demands for a stricter deal that goes beyond the JCPOA limits before the US lifts sanctions would be a non-starter for negotiations with Iran.
Obviously, there won’t be a meeting.
there will be meetings, but it will all be:
The way to dusty death. Out, out, brief candle.
Life’s but a walking shadow, a poor player
That struts and frets his hour upon the stage,
And then is heard no more. It is a tale
Told by an idiot, full of sound and fury,
Signifying nothing.
– William Shakespeare, Macbeth, Act V, Scene V
The obvious way forward, is a reset, where the JCPOA is returned to the exact position before Trump dstroyed it with a wrecking ball. Anything less will show up the duplicity and criminal attitudes of the US.
Same as Trump, Biden is just following orders. BB insists Iran be destroyed on US dime…and blood.
The US is not a participant in the nuclear deal, and there is no P5+1 in the Iran nuclear deal. Europe has had more than a year to meet it’s commitments under the deal and have done nothing effective. The US must do what was already promised and pay reparations before asking for anything more from Iran.
Exactly. The issues are very bright and clear and no amount of talk from the EU cowards or the US would-be hegemony can change the facts. It is the US that breached the deal and the EU that were unable to keep it.
In a speech on Friday, President Biden said he was ready to reengage with the P5+1 but also said, “We must also address Iran’s destabilizing activities across the Middle East.”
And there you go. When your senile ass is backed up against the wall just utter some bullshit neocon talking point.
Exactly. One hundred percent pure political BS. Biden’s handlers want to ***create the impression*** that Biden wants to rejoin the JCPOA, when in fact they want nothing of the sort. America is Israel’s bitch. Biden’s cabinet — their first loyalty to Israel — wants nothing less than the destruction of Iran. Everything else is Kabuki.
https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/45ac41d8bd4ec14ca6793371e8c04dba2f861ddf27ed501a0aa8acd10230710f.png
The US needs to wake up and smell the coffee . .
from TehranTimes:
Iran’s UN envoy says JCPOA will be meaningless with sanctions in place
Iran’s UN envoy says JCPOA will be meaningless
Biden went back to sleep until the next wakeup time… He is delaying the removal of sanctions and officially joining JCPOA….Guess what on the next wakeup time Iran will ask of their own demands such as Israel joining NPT…!
Our mass-media is NOW hard at work to prepare the American public for yet another END-LAESS WAR! the MIC, the Bankers, & oil companies are lining up to cash in!
now Feb 23….from rferl Feb 16…
Iran To Reduce Cooperation With IAEA Inspectors Next Week
Iran’s law “to lift sanctions” Dec 2020
Strategic Action Plan to Lift Sanctions and Protect Iranian Nation’s Interests
On December 2, 2020, the Guardian Council of the Islamic Republic of Iran approved a bill passed by the Iranian Parliament, entitled “Strategic Action Plan to Lift Sanctions and Protect Iranian Nation’s Interests”.
What follows is the full text of the law:
Article 1 – In order to meet the nine key conditions set by the Leader of the Islamic Revolution regarding the nuclear deal, the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran is obliged to produce and store at least 120 kilograms of enriched uranium with a 20-percent purity level every year . . .
Article 2 – … increasing the country’s monthly enriched uranium output …
Article 3 – . . .at least 1,000 advanced second-generation centrifuge machines . . .
Article 4 –. . . inaugurate the metallic uranium factory . . .
Article 5 – . . . bring into operation a 40-Megawatts heavy-water reactor . . .
Article 6 – Two months after the enactment of this law in the Parliament. . . stop allowing inspections beyond the Safeguards Agreement… if the other signatories to the JCPOA…fail to fully deliver on their commitments toward Iran and banking relations are not normalized…
Article 7 – If the other signatories to the JCPOA – including the P4+1 group of countries…implement their commitments and fully remove the anti-Iran sanctions..report…assessment
Article 8 – The president, officials, and managers of the relevant executive bodies are responsible for the precise and full implementation of this law.
Article 9 – Those who refuse to implement this law shall be penalized for second- to a fifth-degree felony…here
The IAEA chief, a US fave, visits Tehran today.
“Director General Rafael Mariano Grossi will visit Tehran on Saturday for discussions with senior Iranian officials in order to find a mutually agreeable solution for the IAEA to continue essential verification activities in the country,” the IAEA said in a statement.
Iran has recently criticized the Agency for failing to protect the confidentiality of information.
Grossi requested a visit to Iran immediately after the country announced that it will implement this law. Iran accepted the request although Grossi has been criticized by Iranian officials for his weak leadership during his tenure as the head of the IAEA.
In Tehran, Grossi will meet with Ali Akbar Salehi, the head of the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran (AEOA), and other Iranian officials.
During the visit, the UN nuclear chief will discuss technical issues and arrangements that will be undertaken by Iran to halt inspections beyond the IAEA safeguards. . . .
Going nowhere
I recall the hawks kept insisting that Biden will have leverage with Iran on dealing with thorny issues in the region, in addition to JCPOA.
Biden can’t even convince them to talk to us.
What happened to that leverage?
Biden: “We must also address Iran’s destabilizing activities across the Middle East.”
…from PressTV…
Iran FM raps West, IAEA hypocrisy over Israel’s quiet expansion of Dimona nuclear site
https://cdn.presstv.com/Photo/2021/2/19/8903a615-93c9-4ed7-a1eb-104cd3b18153.jpg
“We must also address Iran’s destabilizing activities across the Middle East.”
It is certainly not Iran that has been destabilising the Middle East, but the US along with the local Satrapies and NATO. It is time they left and took their evil plans with them. The EU 3 were utterly useless as were their signatures on the document.
It is nice to see that “the world’s most powerful man” was allowed to choose some of his controllers as pictured below.