WASHINGTON (XINHUA, REUTERS) – President Joe Biden said the United States would not lift sanctions against Iran unless Teheran stops enriching uranium, according to an interview broadcasted on Sunday (Feb 7).

Asked if the US would lift sanctions first to get Iran back to the negotiating table, Mr Biden said “no” in the interview with CBS News.

Mr Biden also gave an affirmative nod when asked if Iran had to stop enriching uranium first. However, it was not clear exactly what he meant, since Iran was allowed to enrich uranium to 3.67 per cent under the deal, known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), also known as the Iran nuclear deal.

A senior US official later said that Mr Biden meant Iran had to stop enriching beyond the deal’s limits, not that it had to stop enriching entirely before the two sides might talk.

“They have to stop enriching beyond the limits of the JCPOA,” said the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity. “There is nothing changed in the US position. The United States wants Iran to come back into (compliance with) its JCPOA commitments and if it does, the United States will do the same.”

Iran in January said it has resumed 20 per cent uranium enrichment at its underground Fordow nuclear site, well above the deal’s limit but far short of the 90 per cent that is weapons-grade.

Separately, Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said on Sunday that Teheran’s “final and irreversible” decision was to return to compliance with the 2015 nuclear deal only if Washington lifts sanctions on the Islamic Republic, Iranian state TV reported.

Iran’s Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif said on Saturday that Iran is losing patience with the new US administration’s “recent signals to retain illegal sanctions” on the Islamic Republic, Press TV reported.

The comments appeared to be posturing by both sides as they weigh whether and how to revive the pact.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken had also noted that Washington would only return to the JCPOA once Teheran meets its commitments, warning of a long road ahead.

The JCPOA was reached in 2015 between Iran and the P5+1 (the five permanent members of the United Nations Security Council – the US, Britain, Russia, France, China, plus Germany) as well as the European Union. Iran is allowed to enrich uranium within certain limits under the deal.

The deal between Iran and the P5+1 limited Iran’s uranium enrichment activity to make it harder for Teheran to develop nuclear arms – an ambition Iran has long denied having – in return for the easing of US and other sanctions.

But former US president Donald Trump abandoned the deal in 2018, denouncing it as one-sided in Iran’s favour, and reimposed sanctions that have crippled Iran’s economy.

In response, Teheran has gradually dropped some of its JCPOA commitments since May 2019.

“Iran has fulfilled all its obligations under the deal, not the United States and the three European countries… If they want Iran to return to its commitments, the United States must in practice…lift all sanctions,” state TV quoted Mr Khamenei as saying during a meeting with Air Force commanders.

“Then, after verifying whether all sanctions have been lifted correctly, we will return to full compliance… It is the irreversible and final decision and all Iranian officials have consensus over it.”

In response to Mr Trump’s withdrawal, Teheran has breached the deal’s key limits by building up its stockpile of low-enriched uranium, refining uranium to a higher level of purity and using advanced centrifuges for enrichment.

Mr Biden has said if Teheran returned to strict compliance, Washington would follow suit and use that as a springboard to a broader agreement on other areas of concern for Washington including Iran’s missile development and regional activities.

Those activities include support for proxies in conflicts roiling countries such as Iraq, Lebanon, Syria and Yemen.

Iran has said it could quickly reverse its JCPOA violations if US sanctions are removed but has ruled out talks on its missile programme and its influence in the Middle East, where Iran and Saudi Arabia have fought proxy wars for decades.

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