WASHINGTON (AP) – The Biden government’s early efforts to revive 2015 Iran nuclear deal get a cold early response from Tehran. While few expected a breakthrough in the new administration’s first month, Iran’s hardline suggests a tough road ahead.
After making several significant advances to Iran in the early weeks of his tenure, the reach of the government was all but shunned by the Iranians. They had already turned down Biden’s opening game: a US throwback to the deal President Donald Trump withdrew from in 2018 if Iran fully complies with its obligations under the accord
Iran appears to be a major test of the Biden administration’s overall approach to foreign policy, which the president has said will adapt to the kind of multilateral diplomacy Trump has shunned. While there are other hot-button issues – including Russia, China, and North Korea – Iran holds special significance to Biden’s top national security officials. Among them is State Secretary Antony Blinken, National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan and Special Envoy to Iran Rob Malley, all of whom were deeply involved in bringing about the 2015 deal under President Barack Obama and may have a personal interest in saving it.
Biden took office with a promise to reverse Trump’s withdrawal from the deal, giving it billions of dollars in sanctioning aid in return for curbing its nuclear program. Last week, Biden delivered at least three more ways: he agreed to return to multinational talks with Iran to revive the deal, rescind Trump’s decision that all UN sanctions on Iran should be reinstated, and to ease severe travel restrictions on Iranian diplomats posted to the United States. Nations.
Yet Iran has insisted that it will not respond to anything less than a full lifting of the sanctions that Trump has re-imposed. Last weekend, Iran got over the threat of suspending compliance with a UN agreement that would allow for penetrating inspections of its declared nuclear sites. Although Iran halted the removal of international inspectors, Iran reduced cooperation with them and pledged to reconsider the move within three months if sanctions are not lifted.
The persistent stance of the Iranians has left the government with a difficult choice: continue to lift sanctions before Iran resumes full compliance and risk losing the power it has or meeting the demands for full compliance first. double and run the risk of Tehran running away. completely out of the deal.
It’s a delicate balance and the government hates to admit it is facing, given Iran’s politically sensitive nature in Washington – Republicans strongly oppose the nuclear deal – and in Europe and the Middle East itself, especially in Israel and the Arab Gulf states that are most directly threatened.
On Monday, Secretary of State Antony Blinken reaffirmed that the US is ready to return to the nuclear deal, provided Tehran “adheres strictly” to it. Speaking at the UN-backed Conference on Disarmament in Geneva, Blinken said the US is committed to ensuring that Iran never acquires a nuclear weapon and pledged to work with allies and partners to close the deal between Iran and Germany, France, to ‘extend and strengthen’. Great Britain, Russia, China and the USA.
“Diplomacy is the best way to achieve that goal.” he said.
But just 24 hours earlier, Iran on Sunday rejected requests to suspend cooperation with the UN nuclear watchdog. Although Iran has not expelled the International Atomic Energy Agency charged with overseeing Iran’s compliance with the deal, it has ended the agency’s access to video from cameras installed in a number of locations.
There was no immediate response to that development from the US, but on Monday the White House and the State Department both downplayed the significance of the move.
“We believe that diplomacy is the best way to prevent Iran from acquiring a nuclear weapon,” White House press secretary Jen Psaki told reporters. “That does not mean that they have clearly not taken the steps necessary to comply, nor have we taken any steps or given any indication that we will comply with the requirements they set.”
At the State Department, spokesman Ned Price addressed the IAEA mission more directly, praising the agency for its “professionalism” in keeping inspectors and their device in the country despite Iran’s early threat to expel them on Tuesday. He said the US supports the success of IAEA chief Rafael Grossi in reaching a temporary deal with Iran, but regretted that Tehran is not following the rules.
Price said the government was concerned that Iran seemed to be heading in the wrong direction, but would not comment on the government’s view on whether its reach so far had yielded results. Nor was he willing to say what the government could do to push Iran back to adhering to the deal, given the ongoing threat of relinquishing all restrictions it imposed.
“The United States is ready to meet with the Iranians to resolve these difficult complex questions,” Price said, referring to phrases government officials used to refer to their original goal of “compliance for compliance” and then “compliance for compliance. “. plus.”
“Compliance-plus,” according to government officials, would include restrictions on Iran’s non-nuclear activities, including missile development and support for rebel groups and militias in the Middle East. A major reason Trump gave for pulling out of the nuclear deal was that these issues were not being addressed, and his administration has been trying to extend the deal with them for over a year.