Secretary of State Blinken wants the U.S. to return to the deal and negotiate further as Iran says the agreement is not non-negotiable.
Biden’s administration will return to Iran’s nuclear deal while Tehran restores compliance and then negotiates a “longer and stronger” agreement, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in an interview with NBC News.
During the interview, tapped on Sunday, Blinken said Iran was months away from developing enough nuclear materials to create a bomb, in “a few weeks”, if Iran continues to lift imposed barriers. involved with the 2015 contract.
Iran began lifting the sanctions after the previous administration of President Donald Trump pulled out of the treaty in 2018, a move that has been widely criticized.
The Iran treaty was signed on 14 July 2015 by a group of six countries called the P5 + 1 – China, France, Russia, the United Kingdom, the United States and Germany, and the European Union.
They agreed to lift sanctions imposed on Iran, giving more access to the global economy, as a reward for measures that halted Iran ‘s development of nuclear weapons.
Iranian President Hassan Rouhani will attend a meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin on the system at a session of the Supreme Eurasian Economic Council in Yerevan, Armenia on October 1, 2019 [File: Alexei Druzhinin/Kremlin via Reuters]
Washington would consider issues that were not on the table during the talks during Iran’s 2015 contract, Blinken said, including the release of U.S. prisoners held by Iran.
“Whatever the terms, these Americans must be released. Time, “he said, adding,” We’re going to focus on making sure they come home one way or another. “
Iran has said it will not renegotiate the treaty and has blamed the U.S. for its unilateral withdrawal.
“The nuclear treaty is a multilateral international agreement ratified by UN Security Council Resolution 2231, which is non-negotiable and parties to it are clear and unchanging,” Iran’s Foreign Ministry said. reporting on Saeed Khatibzadeh by state media on Saturday.
Blinken also discussed possible new sanctions against North Korea and Russia, which has imprisoned politician Alexey Navalny and thousands of protesters for his release, among others disputes with the US.
Blinken did not promise specific sanctions against Moscow as he reconsidered the ongoing situation involving Navalny, Russian election intervention, the SolarWinds hack and bounties allegedly against Russian soldiers. USA in Afghanistan.
Blinken said he was open to sanctions against North Korea, which has remained an opposing nuclear power seen as an unstable force in the region, as well as other potentially anti-Russian actions. and the Biden administration is continuing its foreign policy review, Blinken said.