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Iranian Foreign Minister Javad Zarif said Tehran does not accept the preconditions of the next US administration regarding its nuclear program, stressing the need for the US to return to the 2015 agreement before holding talks.
Zarif added that the United States has “obligations” that it must meet.
US President-elect Joe Biden said he would return to the nuclear deal and lift sanctions on Iran, if he “strictly adheres to the nuclear deal.”
It appears that each party wants the other to first comply with the provisions of the 2015 agreement again.
In May 2018, the president of the United States, Donald Trump, withdrew from the agreement reached under his predecessor, Barack Obama.
Trump has re-imposed strict economic sanctions on Iran, targeting the financial and oil sectors.
Since then, Tehran has ignored the restrictions placed under the agreement on its nuclear activities.
The deal aims to verifiably impose limits on Tehran’s nuclear program, in exchange for sanctions relief. Iran insists that its nuclear ambitions are entirely peaceful.
What is Iran’s current position on the nuclear deal?
In a speech at a virtual conference hosted by Italy on Thursday, Zarif said the United States “seriously violated” the United Nations resolution, which supports the nuclear deal, when it withdrew from it, describing the Trump administration as a “regime. scoundrel”.
He added: “The United States must stop. The United States must stop its violations of international law.”
Zarif added that the United States “is not in a position to establish conditions.”
Image posted, Reuters
Satellite image of the Natanz nuclear facility in Iran
Biden said he would prioritize getting the United States back to the deal and consider lifting the sanctions, but would ask Iran to first comply with the terms of the deal.
Iran’s parliament passed a bill that bans UN inspections of Iran’s nuclear sites and requires the government to resume uranium enrichment by 20%, much more than the 3.67% agreed to in the deal, if they are. penalties are not relieved in two months.
Uranium enriched to a much higher level can be used to make a nuclear bomb, but once the uranium is enriched to 20%, it is technologically easier to reach the level required for a nuclear bomb.
President Hassan Rouhani said he opposes implementing the legislation passed by Parliament. Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has yet to clarify his position on the legislation.
These developments come after the assassination of Iranian nuclear scientist Mohsen Fakhrizadeh, who played a key role in Iran’s nuclear program.
Fakhrizadeh was killed in a mysterious attack outside the capital Tehran last Friday. Iran pointed an accusing finger at Israel, which has not commented publicly on this.
And when Trump abandoned the nuclear deal, he said he wanted to force Iran to negotiate a new deal that would place restrictions on Iran’s nuclear program indefinitely and halt the development of ballistic missiles.
Iran refused. In July 2019, the uranium enrichment level rose above the rates stipulated in the agreement, but the enrichment level has remained stable at 4.5% since then.
Tehran announced in January that it would no longer abide by any of the restrictions imposed by the agreement.
And the International Atomic Energy Agency said last month that Iran had more than 12 times the amount of enriched uranium allowed under the deal.
