US Official: Reviving Iran Nuclear Deal Not a Question of Who Goes 1st

An Iranian flag outside the building housing the reactor of the Bushehr nuclear power plant in the southern Iranian port town of Bushehr, 1,200 Kms south of Tehran, April 3, 2007. AFP PHOTO/BEHROUZ MEHRI
An Iranian flag outside the building housing the reactor of the Bushehr nuclear power plant in the southern Iranian port town of Bushehr, 1,200 Kms south of Tehran, April 3, 2007. AFP PHOTO/BEHROUZ MEHRI
TT

US Official: Reviving Iran Nuclear Deal Not a Question of Who Goes 1st

An Iranian flag outside the building housing the reactor of the Bushehr nuclear power plant in the southern Iranian port town of Bushehr, 1,200 Kms south of Tehran, April 3, 2007. AFP PHOTO/BEHROUZ MEHRI
An Iranian flag outside the building housing the reactor of the Bushehr nuclear power plant in the southern Iranian port town of Bushehr, 1,200 Kms south of Tehran, April 3, 2007. AFP PHOTO/BEHROUZ MEHRI

Who might take the first step to resume compliance with the 2015 Iran nuclear deal is not an issue for the United States, a US official said on Friday, suggesting greater flexibility on the part of Washington.

“That’s not the issue, who goes first,” the official told Reuters on condition of anonymity.

“Like, we are going to go at 8, they are going to go at 10? Or they go at 8, we go at 10? That’s not the issue,” the official said. “The issue is do we agree on what steps are going to be taken mutually.”

The Biden administration has been seeking to engage Iran in talks about both sides resuming compliance with the deal, under which US and other economic sanctions on Tehran were removed in return for curbs on Iran’s nuclear program to make it harder to develop a nuclear weapon -- an ambition Tehran denies.

US President Joe Biden’s predecessor, Donald Trump, withdrew from the deal in 2018 and reimposed US sanctions, prompting Iran, after waiting more than a year, to violate some of the pact’s nuclear restrictions in retaliation.

The United States and Iran have yet to agree even to meet about reviving the deal and are communicating indirectly via European nations, Western officials have said.

The odds of their making progress to revive the deal before Iran holds a presidential election in June have dwindled after Tehran opted to take a tougher stance before returning to talks, officials have said.

In a speech on Sunday, Iran’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei said Washington must ease sanctions before Tehran would resume compliance.

The US official sought to dispel what he said was an erroneous view that the United States insists on Iran’s full compliance before Washington would take any steps to resume its own commitments.
He also said it was not the US stance that Tehran must take a first step to comply before Washington would take a step.

“It is absolutely not our position that Iran has to come into full compliance before we do anything,” the official said.

“As for, if we agree on mutual steps, like we’ll do X, they do Y, the issue of sequence will not be the issue. I don’t know who would go first. I mean we could – it could be simultaneous,” he said. “There’s a thousand iterations but ... I can tell you now, if this breaks down, it’s not going to be because of that.”

He added: “We will be pragmatic about that.”

Writing in Foreign Affairs magazine last year when he was a presidential candidate, Biden said: “Tehran must return to strict compliance with the deal. If it does so, I would rejoin the agreement.”

That language, echoed by Secretary of State Antony Blinken and other officials since Biden took office on Jan. 20, has been widely taken to mean Iran had to make the first move to comply.

The US official, however, disputed this.

“It doesn’t say when,” the official said. “It is not a statement about sequence.”

Robert Einhorn, a nonproliferation expert at the Brookings Institution think tank, said he had not understood Biden’s Foreign Affairs article to mean Iran necessarily had to go first, “although it could certainly be read that way.”

“Several other formulations administration officials have used -- such as ‘the US will return to compliance if Iran does the same’ -- seem quite neutral on sequence and don’t suggest to me that Iran must go first,” Einhorn said.



Iran Shifts Focus from Lebanon War to Economic, Oil Challenges

A handout picture provided by the office of Iran's Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei shows him addressing members of the army's navy during an official gathering in Tehran on November 27, 2024. (Photo by KHAMENEI.IR / AFP)
A handout picture provided by the office of Iran's Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei shows him addressing members of the army's navy during an official gathering in Tehran on November 27, 2024. (Photo by KHAMENEI.IR / AFP)
TT

Iran Shifts Focus from Lebanon War to Economic, Oil Challenges

A handout picture provided by the office of Iran's Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei shows him addressing members of the army's navy during an official gathering in Tehran on November 27, 2024. (Photo by KHAMENEI.IR / AFP)
A handout picture provided by the office of Iran's Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei shows him addressing members of the army's navy during an official gathering in Tehran on November 27, 2024. (Photo by KHAMENEI.IR / AFP)

While officially welcoming the ceasefire in Lebanon, Tehran has expressed cautious and reserved positions on the recent developments. Even as it reiterates its intention to respond to Israeli actions, Iran has stated it will take “regional developments” into account before deciding its next steps.

Meanwhile, domestic debates about Iran’s economic challenges are intensifying. Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf acknowledged the country’s struggles with oil production and transportation to global markets, while Ali Larijani, a senior advisor to Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, described Iran’s economic problems as “chronic” and unlikely to be resolved easily.

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi stated on Wednesday that Iran reserves the right to respond to Israeli airstrikes conducted last month. However, he noted that Tehran is also closely monitoring other regional developments, including the ceasefire in Lebanon. Speaking to reporters in Lisbon, Araghchi welcomed the truce between Israel and Lebanon, expressing hope it would lead to a lasting peace. The Israeli strikes on Iran on October 26 came in response to a missile attack launched by Tehran on Israel earlier that month.

In a separate address to Iranian naval commanders, Khamenei called for enhancing the combat capabilities of Iran’s armed forces to deter potential aggressors. While Khamenei did not specifically mention the Lebanon ceasefire, he emphasized that military readiness must serve as a clear warning to adversaries that any confrontation will come at a high cost.

During a parliamentary session, Ghalibaf discussed Iran’s diminishing leverage in global oil markets. According to ISNA news agency, Ghalibaf remarked: “Oil was once our tool to threaten enemies, but that time is gone. What oil can we cut off? What market do we control?”

He further noted that Iran is currently incapable of achieving the 8% economic growth rate needed, citing the high costs of extracting natural gas as a significant hurdle.

“Even if Iran could produce oil,” he added, “it faces difficulties in transporting it.” Ghalibaf emphasized that Iran’s economic challenges extend far beyond issues such as the use of fuel oil in power plants.

The parliamentary speaker urged both reformist and conservative lawmakers to support the proposed Seventh Development Plan. He also criticized legislative delays in implementing development goals, highlighting the need for reforms in income tax policies and budget allocations for media, as reported by the IRGC-affiliated Tasnim news agency.

Larijani acknowledged in a recorded 100-minute interview with Tasnim that Iran’s economy suffers from chronic issues, adding that Western sanctions alone are not to blame. Larijani briefly touched on the situation in Lebanon and Palestine but avoided addressing the fate of the “resistance” or the “unity of fronts.”