Iran calls removal of US sanctions its ‘red line’ for 2015 nuclear deal revival
- Removing sanctions and Iran benefiting is country’s red line in talks, says Iranian foreign ministry spokesman; talks due to resume on Tuesday
- US signed sanctions waivers on Friday making it harder for Iran’s nuclear sites to be used to develop weapons; Iran denies wanting to make bomb
Iran said on Monday the removal of US sanctions is Tehran’s red line in talks with world powers in Vienna to revive a 2015 nuclear deal, an Iranian foreign ministry spokesman told a news conference, adding that talks will resume on Tuesday.
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken signed several sanctions waivers on Friday allowing international nuclear cooperation with Iran on projects designed to make it harder for Iran’s nuclear sites to be used to develop weapons, although a senior State Department official said that was not a signal Washington was on the verge of reaching an agreement.
In the short term, the decision will exempt foreign countries and companies that work in Iran’s civilian nuclear sector from American penalties.
“Washington has decided to take a step which has no impact on Iran’s economic situation ... a responsible (US) government should return to the deal and fulfil its obligations,” he said.
Iran’s Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdollahian on Sunday described the US move as “good but insufficient”.
Iran, which denies ever seeking a nuclear bomb, has gradually violated nuclear limits of the nuclear pact in reaction to then-US President Donald Trump’s 2018 withdrawal from the pact between Tehran and six powers and reimposing of crippling sanctions on Iran.
The talks paused on January 28 as top negotiators returned to their respective capitals for consultations.
US Special Envoy for Iran Robert Malley on Sunday said he would soon return to Vienna, insisting the pact could still be revived.
“President Biden still wants us to negotiate in Vienna,” Malley told MSNBC in a Sunday night interview.
“That’s a symbol or a sign of our continued belief that it is not a dead corpse, that we need to revive it because it is in our interest.”
Russia has said they could reach an agreement this month.
Khatibzadeh said Iran’s lead nuclear negotiator Ali Bagheri Kani would return to Vienna on Tuesday, when the talks will resume.
After months of discussions, many obstacles may remain to a full deal.
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Israel has long opposed the 2015 nuclear pact and said its resurrection would make it easier for Iran to build an atomic weapon.
Diplomats and analysts say the longer Iran remains outside the deal, the more nuclear expertise it will gain, shortening the time it might need to race to build a bomb if it chose to, thereby undermining the accord’s original purpose.
