Biden Unwilling to ‘Make Concessions’ on Iran

US President Joe Biden. Reuters
US President Joe Biden. Reuters
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Biden Unwilling to ‘Make Concessions’ on Iran

US President Joe Biden. Reuters
US President Joe Biden. Reuters

US President Joe Biden has stressed that “it’s premature” to know whether the indirect talks between the US and Iran will result in mutual compliance with the nuclear deal. However, he stressed that he has no intention of “making concessions.”

“We do not support and do not think it’s at all helpful that Iran is saying it’s going to move to enrich to 60 percent,” Biden said during a joint press conference with Prime Minister of Japan Yoshihide Suga in Washington.

He added, “it is contrary to the agreement.”

“We are, though, nonetheless pleased that Iran has continued to agree to engage in discussions — in direct discussions with us and with our — our partners on how we move forward and what is needed to allow us to move back into the JOPCA, and so that we are a part of it again — that we should have never gotten out of, in my view — without us making concessions that I’m — we’re just not willing to make.”

“And so the discussions are underway. I think it’s premature to make a judgement as to what the outcome will be, but we’re still talking,” he stressed.

American officials hinted that the new US Envoy to Iran, Robert Malley, expressed readiness to lift 700 sanctions of 1,500 sanctions imposed by the former US administration.

However, these leaks weren’t confirmed by officials responsible for negotiations with Iran.

Biden sees that Trump's "maximum pressure" campaign has failed.

“We take seriously Iran’s provocative announcement of its intention to begin enriching uranium to 60 percent, which the P5+1 should be unified in rejecting,” White House spokeswoman Jen Psaki said.

She added that “this step both calls into question Iran’s seriousness with regard to the nuclear talks and underscores the imperative of returning to mutual compliance.”

Commenting on the Vienna Talks, Psaki reiterated that they are going “to be difficult, to be long, we still feel that they are a step forward in moving towards — you know, leading with diplomacy to find a path forward."



Russia Starts First Moscow-Pyongyang Passenger Flights in Decades

FILE PHOTO: People wait outside Terminal C after many flights were cancelled or delayed due to Ukrainian drone attacks, at Sheremetyevo international airport outside Moscow, Russia July 21, 2025. REUTERS/Stringer/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: People wait outside Terminal C after many flights were cancelled or delayed due to Ukrainian drone attacks, at Sheremetyevo international airport outside Moscow, Russia July 21, 2025. REUTERS/Stringer/File Photo
TT
20

Russia Starts First Moscow-Pyongyang Passenger Flights in Decades

FILE PHOTO: People wait outside Terminal C after many flights were cancelled or delayed due to Ukrainian drone attacks, at Sheremetyevo international airport outside Moscow, Russia July 21, 2025. REUTERS/Stringer/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: People wait outside Terminal C after many flights were cancelled or delayed due to Ukrainian drone attacks, at Sheremetyevo international airport outside Moscow, Russia July 21, 2025. REUTERS/Stringer/File Photo

Russia will launch direct passenger flights from Moscow to North Korea's capital Pyongyang on Sunday, Russian authorities said, as the two former communist bloc allies move to improve ties following Russia's invasion of Ukraine in 2022.

The start of regular flights between the capitals for the first time since the mid-1990s, according to Russian aviation blogs, follows the resumption of Moscow-Pyongyang passenger rail service, a 10-day journey, in June.

The first flight will leave Sheremetyevo airport at 7 p.m. (1600 GMT), according to the airport's timetable.

The eight-hour flight will be operated by a Boeing 777-200ER with a capacity of 440 passengers, Russia's RIA state news agency said on Sunday. It said tickets started at 44,700 roubles ($563), and the first flight quickly sold out.

Russia's civil aviation authority Rosaviatsia has granted Nordwind Airlines permission to operate flights between Moscow and Pyongyang twice a week. The transport ministry said in a statement that for now flights would operate once a month, "to help build stable demand".

The only direct air route between Russia and North Korea has been flights by North Korean carrier Air Koryo to Vladivostok in Russia's Far East three times a week.

Ukraine and its Western allies have accused North Korea of supplying Russia with artillery and ballistic missiles. Moscow and Pyongyang deny the allegations.

Pyongyang has deployed more than 10,000 troops and arms to Russia to back Moscow's military campaign in Ukraine. North Korean leader Kim Jong Un said this month his country was ready to "unconditionally support" Moscow's efforts to resolve the conflict in Ukraine.