Iran says US must make 'political' decision to rejoin deal
Both Iran and the United States are portraying each other as being opposed to making political concessions.
The eighth round of negotiations to get Iran and the United States back into the 2015 nuclear deal began in Vienna yesterday with a bilateral meeting between Iranian and European Union officials.
An Iranian official described as being “close to the negotiation team” told Tasnim News Agency that “Iran has made its political decision” regarding the current negotiations. He added, “The biggest obstacle is the lack of political decision by the US. The US should be concerned about losing this opportunity.”
Ali Shamkhani, secretary of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council, has been actively tweeting about the negotiations and making similar comments about the United States. He tweeted today, “Voices from the US government show that there is no coherence in the country to make political decisions in the direction of advancement in the Vienna talks. The US administration can not pay for its internal disputes by violating Iran’s legal rights.”
Yesterday Shamkhani tweeted about the importance of lifting sanctions, writing, “Previous experience has shown that without effective lifting of sanctions, sustainable economic benefits from JCPOA are like an illusion.” In another tweet he accused the Biden administration of continuing with former President Donald Trump’s tactic of “maximum pressure."
