Iran said Sunday the issue of US return to the 2015 nuclear deal is “worthless” if all anti-Iran sanctions are not removed.
“The full and definite removal of all sanctions is Washington’s only option to return from (outgoing US President Donald) Trump’s failed strategy of maximum pressure,” said Ali Shamkhani, the Secretary of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council (SNSC).
In a Sunday tweet with the hashtag #Active_Resistance, he said, “The US war of perception aimed at exaggerating a worthless issue like the country’s return to the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) will go nowhere.”
In return, President-elect Joe Biden’s National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan told CNN that as soon as Iran re-entered compliance with the 2015 nuclear deal, there would be a “follow-on negotiation” over its missile capabilities.
He said that Trump’s actions towards Iran did not make the US safer or protect the US national interests.
“Iran is closer to a nuclear weapon today than they were one year ago,” Sullivan said.
Meanwhile, a new draft law was presented to the Iranian Parliament to ban direct talks with the US government or in the presence of US representatives “unless Washington officially apologizes for exiting the Nuclear Deal and condemns the assassination of General Qassem Soleimani.”
The draft law also stipulates taking financial compensations from the US and European countries in return for the US withdrawal from the JCPOA.
Last month, the Guardian Council of Iran approved a bill passed by the Iranian Parliament, entitled “Strategic Action Plan to Lift Sanctions and Protect Iranian Nation’s Interests” requesting that the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran fulfills in full and without any delay, the country’s demand for uranium enriched above 20% for peaceful purposes.
Last week, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) said Iran had informed it of its plans to enrich to a purity of up to 20% at its Fordow Fuel Enrichment Plant.
