Iran: “The train has not derailed” on nuclear deal talks “despite” US actions

by Karen Faulkner, Worthy News Correspondent

(Worthy News) – The Iranian regime said Monday that, although the US imposed new sanctions on it last week, the “train has still not derailed” in its stalled talks with world powers about restoring the 2015 Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) nuclear deal, the Times of Israel (TOI) reports.

Negotiated by the Obama administration and joined by world powers including the UK and France in 2015, the JCPOA was a deal that lifted sanctions on Iran in exchange for restrictions on the regime’s nuclear program. In 2018, US President Trump withdrew the US from the treaty, and reimposed sanctions. In response, Iran continued to enrich uranium, such that it has now almost reached nuclear bomb capability.

Talks between the parties to the JCPOA have been taking place in Vienna since April last year: world powers have sought to return the US to the treaty by lifting sanctions and extracting Iran’s complete compliance with its terms, TOI reports. However, progress has been stalled since March, with Iran demanding the US first remove its sanctions and the Biden Administration demanding Iran first stop enriching uranium to levels required for producing nuclear bombs.

Although the Biden Administration has been keen to restore the JCPOA, on Thursday the US imposed new sanctions on a network of Iranian petrochemical firms and on alleged front companies in China and the United Arab Emirates believed to be helping Iran to get around sanctions.

Nevertheless, Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Saeed Khatibzadeh told reporters Monday: “We are still moving on the diplomatic path — this train has still not derailed, despite the US reneging on its commitments and in spite of all of its actions,” TOI reports.

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