WASHINGTON (AP) – Biden officials on Friday reinstated sanctions on Iran’s atomic plan as talks aimed at rescuing a 2015 nuclear deal fall into disrepair.
As US negotiations return to Vienna for a preliminary session or leave, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken has signed a series of sanctions on Iran’s nuclear activities. The move reverses the Trump administration’s decision to withdraw.
The withdrawal is intended to lure Iran back on track with the 2015 agreement that has been in violation since former president Donald Trump withdrew from the agreement in 2018 and imposed US sanctions. Iran says it does not respect the terms of the agreement because the US came out of it first. Iran has demanded the revocation of all sanctions released under the treaty promised to return to compliance.
Friday’s move removes the threat of sanctions against foreign powers and Russian, Chinese and European companies that have been cooperating with Iran’s non-military components of the Iran nuclear program under the terms of the 2015 Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, or JCPOA.
Trump executives abolished the so-called “civ-nuke” waivers in May 2020 as part of their “massive” crackdown on Iran that began when Trump withdrew the US from the agreement in 2018, calling it a “bad deal of officials”. who once negotiated gave Iran a way to develop a bomb.
As a presidential candidate, Joe Biden made America’s return to the nuclear deal a priority, and his administration has achieved that goal but little progress since then since taking office last year. Administration officials said the withdrawal of funds was being reimbursed to help advance the Vienna negotiations
“Withdrawals in connection with these activities are designed to facilitate negotiations that may help to close the agreement on the full implementation of the JCPOA and to lay the groundwork for Iran’s return to fulfilling its JCPOA obligations,” the State Department said. a notice to the Congress announcing the move.
“It is also designed to assist US nonproliferation and nuclear security concerns and to suppress Iran’s nuclear activities,” the department said. “It is issued at the discretion of the policy taking into account these objectives, not in accordance with the commitment or as part of the quid pro quo. We are focused on working with our partners and partners to combat the full range of threats posed by Iran. “
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A copy of the State Department notice and actual withdrawal signed by Blinken was obtained by the Associated Press.
Withdrawal allows foreign nationals and companies to work on civilian projects at the Iranian nuclear power plant in Bushhehr, its Arak water complex and the Tehran Research Reactor. Former United States Secretary of State Mike Pompeo revoked the withdrawal of funds in May, 2020, accusing Iran of “nuclear weapons” of continuing to expand operations in the regions.
Critics of the nuclear deal have urged Trump to withdraw from the protest, saying that even if the Biden administration wants to return to the 2015 agreement they should at least seek some approval from Iran before offering sanctions aid.
“From the point of view of negotiations, they look hopeless: we will stop the sanctions before we have an agreement, we just say yes to anything!” said Rich Goldberg, an anti-agreement activist and senior adviser to the hawkish Foundation for Defense of Democracies.
An official of the State Department, who is familiar with the withdrawal of rights, insisted that the move was “not a permit” to Iran and was “in the best interests of the nation and the interests of the region and the world.” The official had not yet been authorized to speak on the matter in public and requested anonymity.