State Department spokesman Ned Price has said the US and its allies could have a diplomatic framework that provides "limited sanctions relief" on Iran in return for verifiable and permanent restrictions on its nuclear program.
He said that maximum pressure was supposed to result in a better deal with Iran, to cow Tehran and its proxies, in addition to isolate Tehran from the rest of the world and to leave America’s interests in a better position.
“In fact, every single one of those, the opposite has been true,” Price said in a press briefing last Thursday.
He stressed that Iran at the end of the Trump administration was much closer to a nuclear weapon than it was on the first day of the last administration.
“We’ve seen the heinous attacks and violence directed at our partners and some that have even been directed at the United States, or at least have taken the lives of Americans,” the spokesperson said, adding that the US is now embarking on a different path, one that prioritizes real, principled, clear-eyed diplomacy with its partners and allies regarding Iran.
Price explained that the meeting Secretary of State Antony Blinken had with European allies last week was a clear signal that for the first time in years, the United States was on precisely the same page as its closest allies and partners.
“We enter this phase of diplomacy from a position of strength and we are confident that this is the sort of position of strength that will allow us to achieve our strategic goal, which is to ensure that Iran cannot ever acquire a nuclear weapon,” he said.
Asked whether the administration trusts Iran to return to the deal if the US moves first, Price said that when the agreement was in effect, it was not predicated on the idea of “trust but verify.”
He added that under the P5+1, the US would be willing to take part in principled, clear-eyed negotiations.
“We’re committed to this potential offer under the auspices of the P5+1 pending a response from Iran,” he said, noting that counterterrorism and Iran’s support to terrorist groups in the region remains a profound concern for the United States.
“We will continue to, in concert with our allies and partners, hold Iran accountable for its malign influence in that regard,” Price said.
