Iran Says the Biden Administration Sends a ‘Negative Sign’ By Keeping Sanctions

Iran’s new foreign minister said the Biden administration is sending a “negative sign” to Tehran by maintaining Trump-era sanctions on Iran and adding new ones.

Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdollahian told NBC News in an interview Thursday that the Biden administration has not taken any action to change Iran policy.

“They say, ‘We are ready to return to the fulfillment of our commitments.’ However, there is no action taken in order to show and prove the true will to the new Iranian administration, to the Iranian nation. And worse than that, simultaneously, they have managed to put on new sanctions,” Amirabdollahian said. “This is a negative sign, signal to Iran.”

The Biden administration has implemented several rounds of Iran-related sanctions that target people and companies the US accuses of trading with Iran, ramping up the previous administration’s so-called “maximum pressure” campaign. During indirect negotiations between the US and Iran that were held from April to June, the Biden administration refused to lift all Trump-era sanctions, forcing Iran to negotiate limited relief.

Despite the negative signals from the US, Amirabdollahian said that Iran plans to resume the talks to revive the JCPOA soon. “We are assessing and I can tell you that we have had many meetings and we will keep the window of diplomacy and negotiations open. And we will very soon return to the negotiations.”

The US has been calling for Iran to return to the negotiations and is warning that time is running out. A State Department official told reporters on Thursday that the window for talks “won’t be open forever.”