Iran shuns reported US offer on nuclear deal
A US proposal reportedly demanding Iran halt its current nuclear enrichment in exchange for sanctions removal was turned down by the Iranian side.
Iran expressed no delight in a reported US offer to revive the 2015 nuclear deal formally known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA). “No proposal is needed for the US to rejoin the JCPOA,” tweeted the Iranian mission at the United Nations.
The Twitter statement was addressing a March 29 report by the US-based newspaper Politico that released the proposal’s details from unnamed officials at the administration of US President Joe Biden. According to the report, the offer calls on Iran to suspend its controversial 20%-level uranium enrichment and put a brake on its advanced centrifuges. In return, Tehran will enjoy a partial lifting of the economic sanctions reimposed in 2018 after the departure from the deal by Biden’s predecessor, Donald Trump.
But the Iranian mission noted that a revival of the deal “only requires a political decision by the US to fully and immediately implement all of its obligations.” The New York-based mission is headed by Majid Takht-Ravanchi, a key member of the Iranian team who negotiated the 2015 landmark accord with the world’s major powers.
In a similar reaction, an anonymous official source told Iran’s state-run Press TV that enrichment at such levels will be suspended only after all US sanctions are removed. Washington’s failure to do so, the source warned, will push Iran toward a “further reduction of its JCPOA commitments.”
