Iran said Friday it would reverse actions that violated a nuclear deal with world powers if U.S. sanctions against the country are lifted.
The U.S. imposed sanctions on Iran after then-President Donald Trump pulled out of the nuclear deal in 2018, causing relations to deteriorate between the two countries.
“U.S. unconditionally & effectively lift all sanctions imposed, re-imposed or re-labeled by Trump,” Foreign Minister Javad Zarif’s declared in a tweet. “We will then immediately reverse all remedial measures. Simple:#CommitActMeet.”US acknowledged Pompeo’s claims re Res. 2231 had no legal validity.We agree.In compliance w/ 2231:US unconditionally & effectively lift all sanctions imposed, re-imposed or re-labeled by Trump.We will then immediately reverse all remedial measures.Simple: #CommitActMeet— Javad Zarif (@JZarif) February 19, 2021Zarif’s comments came hours after U.S. President Joe Biden’s administration said it was prepared to join talks to revive the 2015 deal, a repudiation of Trump’s “maximum pressure campaign” that aimed to isolate the Middle Eastern power.
Britain, China, France, Germany, Russia and the U.S. sealed the deal mediated by then-President Barack Obama in July 2015 that required Iran to drastically scale back its nuclear program in return for economic relief. The Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, or JCPOA, was agreed upon by the five permanent members of the U.N. Security Council (Britain, China, France, Russia and the United States) plus Germany.
In addition to Thursday’s offer to return to the bargaining table, the Biden administration’s appeal to Iran included the reversal of two symbolic actions taken by Trump.
The Biden administration reversed Trump’s determination that all U.N. sanctions on Iran be reinstated, and it relaxed stringent limits on the domestic travel of Iranian diplomats assigned to the United Nations.
The two actions drew criticism from Israel, which said it remains “committed to preventing Iran from getting nuclear weapons” and that it was in contact with the U.S. on the issue.
Iran has said the U.S. must start reversing sanctions by Feb. 23 or it would ban short-notice inspections by the U.N.’s watchdog, the International Atomic Energy Agency.
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