Iran Wants Guarantees the US Won’t Leave JCPOA Again if Deal Is Revived

Negotiations to revive the JCPOA are set to resume November 29

On Monday, Iran said the US should provide guarantees that it would not withdraw from the nuclear deal again if the agreement is restored. Indirect negotiations to revive the JCPOA are set to resume on November 29th in Vienna after a long pause.

“The US should show that it has the capability and will to provide guarantees that it will not abandon the deal again if the talks to revive the deal succeed,” Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Saeed Khatibzadeh said.

Last month, a report from Responsible Statecraft revealed that President Biden couldn’t guarantee that he would stay in the JCPOA during his term in office in the initial round of talks that lasted from June to April.

Since the US unilaterally withdrew from the JCPOA in 2018 by imposing sanctions, Iran has good reason to be concerned that it would happen again. In an apparent response to the Responsible Statecraft report, President Biden released a joint statement with the leaders of France, Britain, and Germany that said he is committed to returning the US to “full compliance with the JCPOA and to stay in full compliance” if Iran does the same.

Khatibzadeh also called on the Biden administration to lift sanctions and drop the Trump administration’s policy, known as the “maximum pressure campaign” against Iran. He said “nothing will change in Vienna” if this hardline stance again Iran continues.

The Biden administration has been clear that it has no plans to lift all Trump-era sanctions on Iran, only those they deem “inconsistent with the JCPOA.” This forced Iran to negotiate limited sanctions relief in the first rounds of talks, but the two sides remained far apart on key issues.

Author: Dave DeCamp

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