Iran expects US sanctions to be lifted despite tensions

ANKARA

Iran believes that US sanctions will be lifted soon despite the tense relationship between Tehran and Washington over the reimplementation of the 2015 Iran nuclear deal.

Iran’s government spokesman Ali Rabiei penned an article on the current developments in foreign policy, according to the country’s official news agency IRNA.

Rabiei argued that a month after taking the office, US President Joe Biden, who had announced during his candidacy that he would return to the agreement, is “finally” on the verge of giving up the policy of maximum pressure of former President Donald Trump.

He said that it is the priority of the current Iranian government that the sanctions would be lifted.

Iran confidently predicts that diplomatic initiatives will yield a positive outcome in the near future as a natural start for the parties to return to their commitments, including the lifting of all sanctions despite tensions, Rabiei wrote.

On Thursday, the US said it is open to an invitation from the EU for a meeting with world powers and Iran to discuss a return to the 2015 nuclear accord.

"The United States would accept an invitation from the European Union High Representative to attend a meeting of the P5+1 and Iran to discuss a diplomatic way forward on Iran’s nuclear program," State Department Spokesperson Ned Price said in a statement.

Earlier this month, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken cautioned that Iran could obtain enough material to create a nuclear bomb within weeks.

Blinken said in an interview with NBC News that Tehran is "a matter of weeks" away from crossing the threshold if it continues to step back from its commitments under the 2015 nuclear pact it struck with world powers.

The Islamic Republic has been taking the actions in retaliation for former President Donald Trump's unilateral decision to withdraw the US from the agreement in 2018 and reimpose sanctions that were lifted as part of the agreement.

The US and Iran are at loggerheads over who should first return to compliance with the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, with the Biden administration repeatedly maintaining that it will only meet its obligations after Tehran.

That position has been a non-starter for Iranian officials, who maintain that since Trump left the deal first, the US must lift its sanctions before Tehran will return.

*Writing by Handan Kazanci