Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif said on Monday that the United States needs to take action swiftly and return to its commitments in order to revive the 2015 nuclear deal, since Iran’s presidential election is looming.
“There is a time constraint and that is once we go to our election, it is a lame duck government and (it) will not be able to do anything serious, and then we will have a waiting period of almost six months. We will not have a government before September,” he said, in reference to the July 18 vote.
Addressing an online conference with the European Policy Center think-tank in Brussels, Zarif said a lot of things can happen between now and September, advising the US to move fast and “moving fast requires them not to be shy, but take measures that they need to take,” ISNA reported.
Former US president Donald Trump quit the deal, formally called the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, and reimposed sanctions on Tehran, while his successor Joe Biden wishes to rejoin. He, however, refuses to lift the sanctions unless Iran reversed its remedial steps away from its obligations.
Zarif said he had seen no change between the Biden and the Trump administration’s policy of maximum pressure to force Iran back to the negotiating table.
“We don’t see any reason for talks; we can go immediately to implementation and then have talks,” he stressed.
He also pointed out that unlike Europeans which are used to compromise, The US and Iran are used to imposing and resisting respectively.
“So now is the time to decide. Will we both compromise and go back to the JCPOA, or will we go back to our own paths?”
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