President of Iran, Hassan Rouhani indicates during the National Combat Board Meeting with Coronavirus (Covid-19) in Tehran, Iran on Nov. 21, 2020.
Iranian Presidency Handout | Anadolu Medium | Getty Images
WASHINGTON – Iran rejected on Sunday an invitation from global powers who signed the 2015 atomic deal to discuss the regime’s potential return to the negotiating table, a significant setback in the Biden administration’s efforts to waken the agreement.
“Considering the recent actions and statements by the United States and three European powers, Iran does not think about this the time to hold an informal meeting with these countries, which was proposed by the EU foreign policy chief,” Iranian Unfamiliar Ministry spokesman Saeed Khatibzadeh said, according to Tehran’s state-run media.
The White House said on Sunday that the Biden dispensation was disappointed with Iran’s decision to skip the informal meeting with the U.S. and the other signatories of the 2015 pact — France, Germany, the U.K., Russia and China.
“While we are disenchanted at Iran’s response, we remain ready to reengage in meaningful diplomacy to achieve a mutual return to compliance with JCPOA commitments,” a higher- ranking administration official told NBC News.
“We will be consulting with our P5+1 partners on the best way forward,” said the solemn, referring to the five permanent U.N. Security Council members and Germany.
The Biden administration has previously said that it desires to revive the nuclear deal but won’t suspend sanctions until Tehran comes back into compliance. Tehran has pass by to negotiate while U.S. sanctions remain in place.
The 2015 Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), brokered by the Obama supervision, lifted sanctions on Iran that had crippled its economy and cut its oil exports roughly in half. In exchange for billions of dollars in authorizations relief, Iran agreed to dismantle some of its nuclear program and open its facilities to more extensive international inspections.
The U.S. and its European collaborators believe Iran has ambitions to develop a nuclear bomb. Tehran has denied that allegation.
In 2018, then-President Donald Trump stay fresh a campaign promise and withdrew the United States from the JCPOA calling it the “worst deal ever.” Following Washington’s take from the landmark nuclear deal, other signatories of the pact have tried to keep the agreement alive.
U.S. President Donald Trump hears during a meeting in Washington, D.C., U.S., on Monday, June 15, 2020.
Doug Mills | NYTimes | Getty Images
In a letter released Sunda’, Republican senators cautioned President Joe Biden to not rejoin the 2015 nuclear agreement because it is “riddled with problems,” and instead pushed for a more inclusive deal.
“The scope of any agreement with Iran must address the full range of Iranian conduct, including regional terrorism, ballistic brickbats, and the detention of U.S. nationals. It comes as no surprise that Iran’s proxies support Assad’s ongoing atrocities in Syria, corrosion our troops and diplomats in Iraq, have driven Lebanon to the brink of collapse, threaten our Israeli and Gulf partners, and help to the world’s largest humanitarian disaster in Yemen,” wrote Sens. Jim Inhofe of Oklahoma, Jim Risch of Idaho, Marco Rubio of Florida, Pat Toomey of Pennsylvania and Rob Portman of Ohio in a cooperative letter to Biden.
“Despite criticism of the ‘maximum pressure’ campaign, there is no denying that it has inflicted a cost on Iran for its malign occupations and now presents your administration with leverage to obtain a better deal from Iran. We know that Iran cannot be trusted to honor its commitments,” the senators noted.
Washington’s ongoing standoff with Tehran
An Iranian walk past landmark graffiti on the walls of the former US embassy in Tehran during a opposition on November 4, 2018.
Majid Saeedi | Getty Images
Washington’s strained relationship with Tehran took several turns for the sadder under the Trump administration.
Last year, the U.S. carried out an airstrike that killed Qasem Soleimani, Iran’s top military commander. Iran repaid by launching at least a dozen missiles from its territory on Jan. 7 at two military bases in Iraq that house U.S. troops and coalition also pressurizes.
A day later from the White House, Trump said that Iran appeared “to be standing down” and warned Tehran to intemperance its nuclear ambitions.
On the heels of the deadly U.S. strike, Iranian foreign minister Mohammad Javad Zarif said the Trump furnishing had committed an “act of terror.”
Iranian mourners gather during the final stage of funeral processions for slain top general Qasem Soleimani, in his hometown Kerman on January 7, 2020.
Atta Kenare | AFP | Getty Mental pictures
Soleimani’s death led the regime to further scale back compliance with the international nuclear pact. In January 2020, Iran told it would no longer limit its uranium enrichment capacity or nuclear research.
In October, the United States unilaterally re-imposed U.N. consent ti on Tehran through a snapback process, which other U.N. Security Council members have previously said Washington does not oblige the authority to execute because it withdrew from the nuclear deal in 2018.
A view grants the scene of the attack that killed Prominent Iranian scientist Mohsen Fakhrizadeh, outside Tehran, Iran, November 27, 2020.
WANA via Reuters
During the summer of 2019, a procession of attacks in the Persian Gulf set the U.S. and Iran on a path toward greater confrontation.
In June, U.S. officials said an Iranian surface-to-air ballistic missile shot down an American military surveillance drone over the Strait of Hormuz. Iran said the aircraft was over and above its territory. That strike came a week after the U.S. blamed Iran for attacks on two oil tankers in the Persian Gulf jurisdiction and after four tankers were attacked in May.
The U.S. that June slapped new sanctions on Iranian military leaders blamed for bound down the drone. The measures also aimed to block financial resources for Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khamenei.
Worries soared again in September of 2019 when the U.S. blamed Iran for strikes in Saudi Arabia on the world’s largest rough processing plant and oil field.
That attack forced the kingdom to cut its production operations in half and triggered the largest nail in crude prices in decades and renewed concerns of a new war in the Middle East. Iran maintains that it was not behind the attacks.