Shkoi Kurdistan-
Iran wants the United States to take the first step and “unconditionally” lift sanctions, making no demands on Tehran with respect to renegotiating the nuclear deal, Foreign Minister Mohammed Javad Zarif wrote in an op-ed for Foreign Affairs magazine on Friday.
“U.S. President Joe Biden can choose a better path by ending Trump’s failed policy of “maximum pressure” and returning to the deal his predecessor abandoned. If he does, Iran will likewise return to full implementation of our commitments under the nuclear deal. But if Washington instead insists on extracting concessions, then this opportunity will be lost,” wrote Zarif.
Former President Donald Trump withdrew from the nuclear deal in 2018 and imposed sanctions on Iran in a “maximum pressure” campaign to force Tehran to concede to a list of demands that included reining in Iran’s ballistic missile program and ending its support for regional allies like Hezbollah and Iraqi Shiite militias.
The sanctions crippled Iran’s economy but did nothing to achieve Trump’s goals and Iran has increased its enrichment of uranium to 20 percent.
Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said Iran would return to full compliance with the nuclear deal, if Washington first lifts sanctions. But the offer may have an expiry date. Iran’s parliament in December passed legislation requiring boosted enrichment and limited UN inspections if sanctions are not lifted by February, Zarif noted, saying “Iranians are running out of patience…”
Biden has signaled he is willing to return to the deal, but he is under pressure to address other issues such as Iran’s missile program and regional activities. His nominee for Secretary of State Antony Blinken said they would “seek a longer and stronger agreement.”
Zarif warned that Iran’s return to full implementation of the deal “will be jeopardized if Washington or its EU allies demand new terms for a deal that was already carefully constructed through years of negotiations.”
“The bargains—and indeed sacrifices—we made to secure the deal cannot be undone; not now, not ever. There cannot be any renegotiations,” he wrote.
A resolution of regional problems must come from the people of the region, not outside actors, he added. “We in the region are capable of addressing our own problems, provided that outsiders do not act as spoilers for short-term dividends or to abet the agendas of unscrupulous clients.”
Biden’s foreign policy nominees contain some familiar faces from the team that negotiated the nuclear deal. In addition to Blinken, Robert Malley is rumoured to be tipped as special envoy on Iran, the Jewish Insider reported. Malley served on the National Security Council under former President Barack Obama and now heads up the International Crisis Group.
Hesamoddin Ashena, advisor to the Iranian president, welcomed the news of Malley’s possible appointment.
Iran and the United States were feared to be on the brink of war a year ago, after the US assassinated Gen. Qasem Soleimani in a drone strike near Baghdad airport. Khamenei’s website on Friday published an image of a Trump-like figure golfing under the shadow of a drone with the caption “Revenge is definite.”
The image was shared by a Twitter account with a link to Khamenei’s website. The account was suspended for being fake.
