Iranian foreign minister Javad Zarif on Monday proposed a way out of the current diplomatic standoff between Tehran and Washington about the 2015 nuclear agreement, referencing a potential “synchronised” return to the deal by both sides, with the European Union (EU) serving as the coordinator.
Speaking to CNN’s Christian Amanpour, Zarif said that such a move was perhaps the only way to move forward on the matter. Though United States (US) President Joe Biden has voiced support for reentering the accord which his predecessor abandoned in 2018, he has insisted that Iran must first resume full compliance with terms of the deal and reverse the measures it took to protest the harsh US sanctions imposed by former President Donald Trump. New Secretary of State Antony Blinken has also said that the Biden administration plans to negotiate a longer and stronger agreement, noting, however, that it would all be contingent on whether Iran adheres to its original obligations, which means that the US’ return would take some time.
“Iran is out of compliance on a number of fronts and it would take some time, should it make the decision to do so, for it to come back into compliance and time for us then to assess whether it was meeting its obligations,” Blinken told reporters last week. “We are not there yet, to say the least,” he added
However, Zarif warned on Monday that the US did not have unlimited time to re-enter the deal and reiterated his country’s commitment to fully implement the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) if the US was willing to lift its sanctions on Iran, which have crippled its economy. The foreign minister, while stressing that Iran had no ambitions to create a nuclear weapon also emphasized that the US was in this position solely due to its own actions, and it was now up to President Biden to decide whether he wanted to follow the “old, failed policies” of his predecessor or not.
To address this issue of who goes first, Zarif suggested using the Joint Commission created by the 2015 accord, stating the EU foreign policy chief Josep Borell could play a role in his position of the coordinator of the agreement, which included the UK, France, Germany, Russia, as well as China.
Borrell can “sort of choreograph the actions that are needed to be taken by the United States and the actions that are needed to be taken by Iran,” Zarif said, adding that timing was not a problem for Iran and that it could return to its commitments within days. “Some may take a few days or weeks, but it won’t take any longer than it would take the United States to implement executive orders that are necessary to put back Iran’s oil, banking, transportation, and other areas that President Trump violated, back into operation,” the foreign minister noted.
Iran Proposes “Choreographed” Return to Nuclear Deal With US, Asks EU to Coordinate
Foreign Minister Javad Zarif, while stressing that Iran had no ambitions to develop a nuclear weapon also emphasized that the US was in this position solely due to its own actions.
February 3, 2021
Iranian foreign minister Javad Zarif (R) speaks with CNN’s Christian Amanpour on Monday. SOURCE: CNN