Iranian FM says US must lift all sanctions ‘unconditionally’ for Tehran to reverse nuclear deal violations

Sura Ali

ERBIL, Kurdistan Region — Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif said on Friday that the United States must lift all sanctions imposed on Iran “unconditionally” before Iran will reverse violations of the nuclear deal. This came after the US, on Thursday, made the first gesture that could salvage the nuclear agreement. 

Richard Mills, the acting US ambassador to the United Nations, told the UN Security Council that his country had rescinded former President Donald Trump's restoration of UN sanctions on Iran, AP reported on Thursday.

On Twitter, Zarif said the US has acknowledged former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo’s allegations surrounding a UN resolution endorsing the sanctions were “invalid."

 

Resolution 2231 provides for the termination of the provisions of previous Security Council resolutions on the Iranian nuclear issue and establishes specific restrictions that apply to all states without exception.

In August, Pompeo formally submitted a complaint accusing Iran of "significant non-compliance" with the nuclear deal, saying that the US "will never allow the world's largest state sponsor of terrorism" to buy weapons freely.

Washington was trying to invoke a "snapback" mechanism described in the nuclear deal, also known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) to restore United Nations sanctions against Iran that were lifted under the agreement.

"It's important to emphasize this. 2231 gave everyone of the participant states the right to execute snapbacks unconditionally," Pompeo said in a press conference on August 20. 

However, thirteen of the 15-member UN Security Council said Washington's action is invalid because Pompeo used a mechanism agreed upon under the nuclear deal, of which the US was no longer a member. 

A spokesperson for Iran’s foreign ministry, Saeed Khatibzadeh, said in a Friday tweet that Iran will only enter negotiations with the US if it lifts sanctions. 

"It is now ONLY Iran and P4+1. Remember, Trump left the room and tried to blow it up," Khatibzadeh tweeted. "But to revive P5+1, US must Act: lift sanctions. We will respond," he said, referring to the five permanent members of the security council, China, France, Russia, the United Kingdom, and the United States.

Iranian President, Hassan Rouhani said on Thursday evening that the nuclear deal is an important achievement for multilateral diplomacy, state media reported.

Rouhani's statement came during a telephone conversation with the President of the European Council, Charles Michel, in which they discussed the latest developments in the nuclear deal with Iran.

"The European Union should play a role in confronting American unilateralism," Rouhani said.

The landmark 2015 nuclear deal was signed between Iran on the one side and US, Russia, Germany, France, UK, and China on the other. The deal was designed to curb Tehran's nuclear ambitions in return for sanctions relief.

However, the deal began to unravel in May 2018 when US President Donald Trump pulled his country out of the agreement unilaterally, arguing it did not guarantee Iran would not obtain nuclear weapons and that Iran was destabilizing the Middle East through armed proxy groups across the region. Trump has said more than once that the deal needs to be renegotiated to include Iran’s ballistic missiles program and regional behavior.

The administration of Joe Biden has said it is prepared to rejoin the deal and start lifting sanctions if Iran returns to full compliance, a precondition disputed by Tehran.

Tensions between Tehran and Washington spiked following the US drone strike in Iraq that killed Iranian general Qasem Soleimani. Militias close to Tehran often carry out attacks on US and international sites in Syria and Iraq, including the US embassy in Baghdad and Iraqi military bases hosting coalition troops.