Biden: "Iran Must Halt Uranium Enrichment to Ease Sanctions"

Strong Warning Against Iran's Uranium Enrichment Attempt
Iran Says, "If You Want to Return to the Nuclear Deal, Start by Easing Sanctions"

President Joe Biden of the United States [Photo by Reuters]

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Suhwan] U.S. President Joe Biden stated that the United States will not ease economic sanctions on Iran first regarding the renegotiation of the Iran nuclear deal (JCPOA - Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action). As the tense confrontation between the two countries continues over the renegotiation of the nuclear deal, there are observations that the future of the agreement is drifting into uncertainty.

On the 7th (local time), President Biden made this remark in an interview with CBS News. He further urged, "Iran must stop uranium enrichment first," indicating that Iran's return to the nuclear deal must precede any easing of economic sanctions.

This is interpreted as a firm stance that Iran's return to the nuclear deal must come before the U.S. takes any preemptive steps to ease sanctions, countering Iran's demand for the U.S. to ease sanctions first. Earlier, Supreme Leader Khamenei, in a speech to Air Force commanders ahead of the 42nd anniversary of the Iranian Revolution, said, "If the U.S. wants Iran to return to its (nuclear deal) obligations, the U.S. must completely lift sanctions," adding, "The U.S. must lift sanctions not only in words or documents but also through actions."

He also posted on his Twitter that "Iran has fulfilled all its obligations under the 2015 nuclear deal, but the U.S. and three European countries have not," calling for the U.S. to lift sanctions.

Meanwhile, in July 2015, the U.S., along with the five permanent members of the UN Security Council (U.S., UK, France, Russia, China) and Germany, signed the Iran nuclear deal, agreeing to gradually ease economic sanctions on Iran. In return, Iran agreed to dismantle all nuclear weapons development programs and limit uranium enrichment to 4%.

However, in 2018, the Donald Trump administration officially withdrew from the Iran nuclear deal and reinstated economic sanctions on Iran. In response, Iran violated the deal's provisions and resumed uranium enrichment and nuclear weapons development programs. Currently, Iran has restarted the Fordow uranium enrichment plant to increase uranium enrichment levels to 20%, the pre-agreement level. Additionally, in December last year, the Iranian parliament passed a law mandating the government to pursue nuclear weapons development if the U.S. does not ease economic sanctions within two months.

On the 1st, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken warned about Iran's renewed uranium enrichment efforts, stating that "(Iran) will have uranium enriched to a level that could be weaponized within weeks," and urged Iran to completely halt uranium enrichment.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.