In Germany, Secretary of State Antony Blinken warned the US is getting “closer” to giving up on the Iran nuclear deal, known as the JCPOA.
“I’m not going to put a date on it but we are getting closer to the point at which a strict return to compliance with the JCPOA does not reproduce the benefits that that agreement achieved,” Blinken told reporters on Wednesday.
Blinken’s comments come a day after the International Atomic Energy Agency falsely claimed that Iran’s very small stockpile of 60 percent enriched uranium is growing rapidly. Iran recently started enriching some uranium at 60 percent in response to an April attack on Iran’s Natanz nuclear facility that was carried out by Israel.
The IAEA said Iran’s 60 percent stockpile “quadrupled” since May, which sounds alarming, but that is the same month Tehran started such enrichment. Using wording like “quadrupled” to described a stockpile that didn’t exist before May is intentionally misleading.
The IAEA has also accused Iran of “seriously undermining” nuclear inspections because they stopped voluntarily complying with certain aspects of the JCPOA. The IAEA’s accusation ignores the fact that Iran is no longer bound by the JCPOA because the US violated the deal way back in 2018.
Iran’s President Ebrahim Raisi responded to the IAEA criticism and said Iran has been “transparent” with the organization. “The Islamic Republic of Iran’s serious cooperation with the International Atomic Energy Agency is a clear example of Iran’s will to be transparent about its nuclear activities,” he said.
Raisi has signaled he’s ready to return to indirect negotiations with the US but hasn’t given a timeline. Raisi has said he wants talks without Western “pressure,” and the IAEA’s clear pro-US bias or Blinken’s comments are not going to compel him to race back to the negotiating table.
“Of course, if the IAEA has a non-constructive approach, it’s unreasonable to expect a constructive response from Iran,” Raisi said. “What’s more, non-constructive actions of course upset the negotiation process.”
The JCPOA talks have been stalled since June 20th. The West blames Iran for the delay, but it was the Biden administration’s refusal to lift all Trump-era sanctions that dragged out the negotiations in the first place. By negotiating limited sanctions relief, Iran is making a significant concession to the US.
It is now clear that Biden lied during the campaign. He never intended to return to the Deal.
He intends to attack Iran, on behalf of Israel.
I don’t think he has the guts to do so. He’s going to keep taking the path of least resistance.
He does not have the guts to tell Israeli leaders to knock the f*ck off!
We could end this nonsense with the stroke of a pen. No more free money from American taxpayers!. Get your spies out of here!
Biden’s generals would give him a basic overview of the likely consequences of air strikes on Iran. It’ll be clear to him that the annoyance of continued whining and threatening from the Israeli government is preferable to a shooting war.
path of least resistance
To the rear – MARCH!
After the cowardly Soleimani assassination, Iran rightfully considered the attack an act of war and retaliated by bombing US military bases in Iraq.
Now, this was an event that Tel Aviv and Washington DC have been desperately working towards for 40 years: Iran officially attacked the the US military.
For decades, Israel and the US have done everything they could to bring this about so the US and Israel have an excuse to bomb and invade Iran.
But, that invasion and bombing never happened. There was ZERO retaliation by Trump. Trump ALWAYS gave spoiled little Israel anything it wanted. Why not this time?
Why didn’t the US attack Iran after waiting so long and working so hard for that exact moment to occur?
Whatever frightened so Trump so badly, will probably dissuade Biden from any such foolishness also.
I think you’re right -“Trump” being shorthand for Pompeo and the entire Neocon War Party. They lost their nerve at the prospect of, at a minimum, igniting a united Shia/anti-Zionist regional rising, another order of magnitude altogether, a bloody black hole that would sink the military and their careers along with Israel and the entire area.
Mid-terms are next year. AIPAC is watching and listening. Politicians are nervous.
Maybe AIPAC should be nervous.
Israel isn’t the third rail of politics it once was.
Correct. A deal exists, approved by President Obama and six major world leaders. Trump withdrew as ordered and imposed sanctions. Biden can just remove the sanctions and reenter. There is nothing to discuss. But he’s just following orders too.
Maybe Biden did mean what he said, but finds that he is opposed at every stage by the Blob. It is no different from Trump finding out that he was just a figurehead. The policies were decided by others elsewhere.
Democracy is but a mirage.
Trump did find out a lot. But I do not believe in Biden’s innocence. He was part of Blob all if his political life.
As i have said before now the US has run away from Afghanistan what country is next in line for DEATH , DESTRUCTION & CHAOS , because as sure as God made little apples some country is going to get it it`s just a question of which one.
Iran is not Syria, it is not Iraq and it is definitely not Afghanistan…! The situation will be reversed…! Iran will end the war for US a lot sooner than what N. Vietnam and Taliban did…!…!
Yes, giving up…! That is the best US does…! Like quitting the deal in 2018…!
Quitting the treaty with Russia.
Yes, now the accusations will start flying from the quasi international bodies, as it is their job.
But it is irrelevant. Russia-China led SCO actually made a decision — it accepted Iran into membership with full voting rights. The reason — US was not interested in deal, and keeping Iran from full membership was pointless waste of time.
Attack Iran? I wold like to see this. At present, US and Israel have ZERO allies in the region. Saudi Arabia and Egypt just joined Russia-China led SCO, where Iran has just promoted to full voting rights membership.
A hit and run act? Anything endangering peace in region is not welcome by anyone. Who is US now protecting apart from Israel?
Big news: Iran to begin process of obtaining full membership in the Shanghai Cooperation Organization. SCO is a mutual defense and security pact, so if Iran becomes a full member Iran will have significant backup in the future.
SCO is not a mutual defense pact. It does entail “security cooperation,” but it does not require any member to come to the defense of another member (like, say, NATO).