Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei said that Iran will retrace its nuclear countermeasures once the United States lifts its sanctions in a manner that could be verifiable by Tehran. He demanded actions not words or on paper and once sanction relief will be verified by Iran, then it will return to its obligations with respect to JCOPA obligations. Iranian Supreme Leader underscored the stance during an address to gathering of Islamic Republic of Iran Air Force (IRIAF).
After US president Joe Biden willingness to rejoin the JCOPA well before assuming Presidential office, the discussions broke out on the topic. The other parties in the agreement such as France, Germany, UK, Russian, and China started efforts to pave the path for restoring the Iranian Nuclear deal to the stage from where it got distracted by United States exit from the agreement. Iran was ever agreed on the accord, but it wants to initiate the move by the US, as US has first sorted to stall the JCOPA. However, during an interview with CBS News, President Biden said that he will not unilaterally lift sanctions against Iran. While referring the statement of Ayatollah Khamenei, Biden said that Iran must first adhere to its nuclear deal commitments despite demands from the Islamic Republic’s supreme leader.
Later, Biden was replied by Iran’s Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif by commenting that the United States must remove sanctions imposed on Iran and return to the nuclear deal if it really wants to discontinue with the policies of former US President Donald Trump. According to Zarif, it was United States who violated the deal, it was the United States that punished any country that remained respectful and complied with the deal, so, it is for the United States to return to the deal, to implement its obligations.
It seems that the revival of the JCOPA has entered in the thorny stage of diplomatic tactics and move to secure the interests by the negotiating parties. The process has begun, and outcome is near to come. In fact, the deal has already agreed upon by the both countries and it just need to start reimplementation on the accord, However, US has some thing more in its basket to further tighten the rope of Iran, now it is Iran turn how much it agrees to US demands.
