Iran's Zarif Says Opportunity Window For US' Return To JCPOA Not Open Forever

The window of opportunity for the new US administration to return to the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) has limits, as Iran is determined to achieve the removal of sanctions and is opposed to any revision of the nuclear deal's terms, Iranian Foreign Minister Javad Zarif said on Friday

MOSCOW (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 22nd January, 2021) The window of opportunity for the new US administration to return to the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) has limits, as Iran is determined to achieve the removal of sanctions and is opposed to any revision of the nuclear deal's terms, Iranian Foreign Minister Javad Zarif said on Friday.

"The window of opportunity for the new U.S. administration will not be open forever," Zarif said in an article for Foreign Affairs.

The top Iranian diplomat said that if Joe Biden's cabinet chooses to abandon Donald Trump's policy of "maximum pressure" which includes an immediate and complete removal of all sanctions from Tehran and return to the nuclear deal, then Iran, too, will resume its commitments in full.

"But if Washington instead insists on extracting concessions, then this opportunity will be lost," Zarif continued.

Iran rejects the United States' approach of "what's mine is mine and what's yours is negotiable," the foreign minister said. It is Washington's return to the JCPOA table that the other signatories should discuss first, Zarif argued, referencing revolving doors to say that international agreements do not work like that and states cannot just leave and enter "on a whim.

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"That return to the table will be jeopardized if Washington or its EU allies demand new terms for a deal that was already carefully constructed through years of negotiations," the Iranian minister said, adding that "the bargains and indeed sacrifices we made to secure the deal cannot be undone; not now, not ever. There cannot be any renegotiations."

The JCPOA was signed in 2015 by Iran, China, France, Germany, Russia, the United Kingdom, the United States and the European Union, stipulating the removal of international sanctions from Tehran in exchange for it scaling down its nuclear program.

Trump pulled the United States out of the deal in 2018 and reimposed sanctions on Iran. Tehran responded by gradually abandoning its own commitments. This past December, the Iranian government passed a law aimed at achieving a full removal of sanctions by February through a nuclear boost, which includes higher uranium enrichment levels and restriction of access to the International Atomic Energy Agency.

On Tuesday, US State Secretary nominee Antony Blinken said that the United States would reciprocate Iran's resumed compliance with the nuclear deal, but would seek a broader agreement that also covers its missile program.