Iran’s spiritual leader has made it clear his country is not prepared to give an inch on its demands if the US and its allies want to see it return to a deal designed to limits its scope to create nuclear weapons.
“Our position is clear and has not changed,” Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said in a speech broadcast on state TV.
“All US sanctions have to be lifted in accordance with the Vienna agreement, and then we’ll return to the nuclear deal.”
He was referring to a 2015 deal reached between Iran and a group of key countries, under which Iran agreed to forego weapons development in exchange for an end to international sanctions.
But former US president Donald Trump pulled out of the deal so that the US could unilaterally restore sanctions.
Trump said the deal neglected provisions that would keep Iran from interfering in regional conflicts and developing missile programmes.
Iran subsequently pulled out of the deal too.
US President Joe Biden, who took office in January, would like to resuscitate the deal somehow. However it’s unclear if either side is ready to make the first move.
The US and three other signatories – Britain, France and Germany – have suggested some changes to the deal that would allow it come back, but Iran is sceptical.
Read the article by in The West Australian.