On Tuesday, the US and Iran entered into indirect talks, through the European Union and the other signatory powers, about American re-entry into the 2015 nuclear deal.
On Wednesday, US State Department spokesman Ned Price said, “We are prepared to take the steps necessary to return to compliance with the JCPOA [Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action], including by lifting sanctions that are inconsistent with the JCPOA.”
So is this a breakthrough? Not quite.
I explain to Turkey’s TRT World how the fundamental issue remains, at least in public: the US is offering a “sequenced” approach, while Tehran is demanding that the Biden Administration remove all sanctions before discussions progress.
This is nuclear blackmail. Why reward Iran at all for playing that game?
Evidently, you have not read the JCPOA text. Iran is still in compliance with the terms of the agreement since paragraphs 26 and 36 allow it to reduce commitments if sanctions are re-imposed.: ” Iran has stated that it will treat such a re-introduction or re-imposition of the sanctions specified in Annex II, or such an imposition of new nuclear-related sanctions, as grounds to cease performing its commitments under this JCPOA in whole or in part.”