Washington DC., SAEDNEWS: Unlike the Trump administration that considered sanction tool as an objective, the new US rulers want to maintain bans and at the same time open doors of diplomacy in order to gain concessions, while they continue talks to revitalize the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA).
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken has claimed that there is no sign that Iran is committed to its obligations under the deal.
Biden, trying to cover up his country's refusal to abide by the JCPOA, attempted to portray Iran as the one who is responsible for the current situation. Reuters quoted Biden as saying that the Islamic Republic has seriously entered the nuclear talks, but it is not obvious what Tehran will carry out to comply with its commitments under the JCPOA.
In response to American officials' allegations, Iran's Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif wrote on his Twitter account, "Lifting Trump's sanctions, @SecBlinken, is a legal & moral obligation. NOT negotiating leverage," urging the United States to pave the way for lifting sanctions and releasing billions of dollars of blocked assets.
Iran's deputy foreign minister and top nuclear negotiator Abbas Araghchi underlined that the United States is the one who withdrew from the JCPOA; so, it should lift sanctions; then, Tehran will return to complete commitment under the nuclear deal.
According to statements made by high-ranking Iranian officials, Iran is ready to scale back to its commitments if sanctions are lifted.
Following Trump's withdrawal from the JCPOA in May 2018, Iran waited one year for European signatories to the deal to keep their end of bargain, but the Europeans did nothing tangible in this respect; therefore, after a year the it started five stages to reduce its commitments.
While other parties to the nuclear talks in Vienna talks expressed hope that there may be a chance to revive the deal before the end of the incumbent administration in Iran, the US has kicked off a new game to avoid initiating the first step to return to the agreement.
Iranian President Hassan Rouhani stated recently that main sanctions are going to be lifted before the end of his tenure.
Enrique Mora, the deputy secretary-general of the European External Action Service and the coordinator of the nuclear deal talks in Vienna, said after the fourth round of the Joint Commission meetings of the JCPOA that there will be an agreement, but it is not clear when it will be reached.
The Biden team is expected to stop playing blame game and accusing Tehran and show their abidance to the JCPOA. If so, the Biden administration indicates that it has separated itself from his predecessor's attitude towards Iran; then, world public opinion can see their responsibility in dealing with international affairs (Source: IRNA).
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