Joe Biden says US will not lift sanctions until Iran stops uranium enrichment

US President Joe Biden has said that Washington will not lift sanctions to get back Iran on the negotiating table and indicated that the measure will only happen if Tehran stops enriching uranium. In an interview with CBS News, when Biden was asked if he would initiate the move to start negotiations, he replied “No”. Further, in the newly released clip, when he was asked of the Islamic Republic must stop enriching uranium first, he nodded. Ever since Biden acquired the US presidency in January, these are the first direct public response on Iran as both nations share a strenuous relationship.

Former US President Donald Trump had withdrawn from the Nuclear Accord 2015 and imposed crippling sanctions on Iran to curb the nuclear arms operation in the country. Meanwhile, Biden, in the past has said that the United States will rejoin the nuclear deal, formally named, Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) once Tehran fully complies again with the pact. Iran, on the other hand, has called for the scrapping of the sanctions that are impacting its economy severely especially amid the COVID-19 pandemic. Tehran has reportedly breached the obligations under the nuclear deal after the Trump administration abandoned the pact. 

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‘It is very clear’ according to Iran

Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei on February 7 said that the United States was the one that left the nuclear and it “must lift all sanctions” if it wants Tehran to return to the conditions of the deal. Earlier, Iranian Foreign Minister Javad Zarif told CNN on Sunday that the United States is the one who needs to return to the pact and that Iran was always a part of the deal.

"It is very clear, it was the United States that left the deal. It was the United States that violated the deal. It was the United States that punished any country that remained respectful and compliant with the deal," Zarif said. "It is for the United States to return to the deal to implement its obligations. Iran never left the deal."

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