Iran’s supreme leader: US must return to nuclear deal first

Tehran, Iran – Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei says the United States must be first to return to its commitments under the historic 2015 nuclear deal.

Germany, France and the United Kingdom – the three European powers that signed the nuclear deal along with the US – also no longer have the right to set conditions since they reneged on their commitments first, he said.

“For a very short time after the deal they temporarily lifted some of the sanctions, but then they turned around again and even increased sanctions,” Khamenei said during a meeting with commanders from the air force.

“So they have no right to set conditions on this. The side that has the right to set conditions on JCPOA’s continuation is Iran because Iran fulfilled all its commitments from the beginning,” Khamenei said, referring to the nuclear deal by its formal name, the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action.

The supreme leader said Iran has set its conditions for the deal, which it will not go back from.

“If they want Iran to return to its JCPOA commitments, the US must completely lift sanctions. And not just verbally on the paper. They must revoke the sanctions in action and we will verify it,” he said.

The side with the right to set conditions to #JCPOA is Iran since it abided by all its commitments, not US or 3 European countries who breached theirs.
If they want Iran to return, US must lift all sanctions. We’ll verify & if it’s done properly, we’ll return to our commitments.

— Khamenei.ir 🇮🇷 (@khamenei_ir) February 7, 2021

The Joe Biden administration has said to restore the nuclear deal his predecessor unilaterally abandoned in 2018, Iran must first restart fulfilling all its commitments under the landmark accord.

A year after former president Donald Trump imposed sanctions on Iran, the country gradually scaled back some of its commitments.

But in December, shortly after top nuclear scientist Mohsen Fakhrizadeh was brazenly assassinated near Tehran, Iran boosted its nuclear programme and is now enriching uranium to 20 percent purity.

Last week, Iran’s Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif proposed that the European Union’s foreign policy chief, Josep Borrell, could “choreograph” steps by Iran and the US to return to nuclear deal compliance.