France Says Iran ‘Risks Jeopardizing’ Nuclear Deal Talks

The talks have been dragged out due to the Biden administration's refusal to lift all Trump-era sanctions

On Monday, France blamed Iran for dragging out the indirect negotiations between Washington and Tehran to revive the nuclear deal, known as the JCPOA. The French Foreign Ministry said Iran risked endangering the talks if it does not return to the negotiations soon.

“If it continues on this path, not only will it continue to delay when an agreement to lift sanctions can be reached, but it risks jeopardizing the very possibility of concluding the Vienna talks and restoring the JCPOA,” French Foreign Ministry spokesperson Agnes von der Muhll told reporters, according to Reuters.

The JCPOA talks started back in April. The process is being dragged out due to the Biden administration’s refusal to lift all Trump-era sanctions. Despite Biden’s stubbornness and the fact that the US is the party that violated the deal in the first place, Western countries still blame Iran for the lack of progress.

The last round of talks concluded on June 20th, and they won’t start up again until after Iran’s President-elect Ibrahim Raisi replaces President Hassan Rouhani in August. Meanwhile, the US is reportedly considering hitting Iran with new sanctions that would target oil sales to China in the event that the talks fail or possibly as a way to gain more leverage for the negotiations.

Author: Dave DeCamp

Dave DeCamp is the news editor of Antiwar.com, follow him on Twitter @decampdave.