Khamenei blocks the road to Biden: only we can set the conditions

Joe Biden’s strategy towards Iran has begun to take shape with greater clarity, in light of his statement, in an interview released yesterday, that the United States will not initiate the lifting of sanctions on Iran as long as the latter “does not respect its obligations. “. in the nuclear archive. A statement came at a time when Iranian leader Ali Khamenei confirmed yesterday that his country will not resume its obligations under the nuclear deal, before the economic sanctions that were reimposed on it by the United States are lifted. “If they want Iran to return to its nuclear agreement obligations, the United States should lift the sanctions altogether, and not just in words or on paper,” he said in a televised speech while welcoming leaders of the Army Air Force. After that, he added, “we will review to feel that the sanctions have actually been lifted, and then we will return to our obligations under the agreement,” known as the “Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action.” Khamenei stressed that Iran is the only party “with the right to establish certain conditions” related to the nuclear agreement, because it respected its obligations, unlike the United States and the three European countries that “did not implement any of these commitments” contained in the agreement. . . He added that the condition for the United States to return to its obligations is “the peremptory policy of the Islamic Republic”, which “will not be reversed.”

The statements to the contrary came to refute what the Bloomberg Agency reported, earlier, that the Biden administration is studying ways to reduce financial pressure on Tehran without lifting major economic sanctions, including oil sanctions. The agency quoted four informed sources as saying that one of the US government’s options in this regard is to support a loan from the “International Monetary Fund” to Iran to help deal with the economic repercussions of the “Crown” outbreak. virus in this country. According to these informed sources, the other option the Biden administration is considering is easing the sanctions that prevent international aid related to the “Crown” from reaching Iran. The agency’s report added that the adoption of such measures could be for humanitarian reasons. However, the exemption from sanctions imposed on the sale of Iranian oil on international markets “has not been seriously considered by the US government.” But Biden considered, in his interview, that the matter is related to the suspension of uranium enrichment by Iran, which a US official punished saying that the president had meant that Iran should stop enrichment, beyond the stipulated limits in the nuclear deal.
Separately, Biden indicated that he has not yet had a chance to contact Chinese President Xi Jingping, adding that there is no reason not to contact him. He said: “It is (something) very cruel. There is not an iota of democracy in his person, and I am not saying that by criticism, it is only the truth ”. But he added that he was “very smart and very difficult.” He continued, “But the question is – I told him all the time, we don’t need a fight, but there will be competition.” On the relationship between the two countries, Biden said: “I will not do it like Trump did. We will focus on the international rules of the game ”.
(Reuters, AFP)