Robert Malley: Iran can choose between reviving the JCPOA or depending on Russia

Robert Malley, the US special representative for Iran, said in an interview with CNN, in response to a question about the results of Vladimir Putin's visit to Tehran, that this visit presents Iran with the choice of relative dependence on Russia or returning to the JCPOA.

Robert Malley emphasized that Russia is currently facing international isolation and can offer very limited economic opportunities for cooperation (with Iran), which will not last long.

He added that Iran also has another option, which is to return to the JCPOA (nuclear agreement), which has been negotiated for the past year and a half, and can have normal economic relations (like everyone else) with its neighbors, Europe, and the rest of the world.

The US special representative for Iran further stated that if Iran does not return to the agreement (the JCPOA), it will face further (global) isolation. Selling armed drones to Russia is another option for which (Iran) will pay the price.

Regarding US concerns about a possible deal to sell Iranian drones to Russia, Robert Malley said that anything that increases Russia's ability to destroy Ukraine is a cause for concern.

The American official emphasized that Iran's sale of such drones to Russia goes against Tehran's alleged position of neutrality in the Ukrainian war.

Robert Malley added that if Iran gives Russia armed drones, the United States also has the tools to punish and punish.

Vladimir Putin arrived in Tehran on Tuesday and held talks with Iran's Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, the Kremlin leader's first trip outside the former Soviet Union since Moscow's invasion of Ukraine on February 24.

US officials said last week that Russia had asked Iran to deliver “hundreds of drones” capable of carrying weapons to the country for use in its military invasion of Ukraine, but Iran’s foreign minister denied this.

Closing of the window for revitalizing the JCPOA

Robert Malley has also warned that the window for revitalizing the nuclear agreement known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) is rapidly closing.

The US Special Representative for Iran further emphasized that the Islamic Republic of Tehran says it is willing to return to negotiations, but in reality this opportunity is being lost every day and such an option will not be available forever.

In response to a question about Iran's distance from acquiring a nuclear bomb, Robert Malley said that Iran is now only a few weeks away from obtaining the necessary materials to make a bomb. Of course, this is different from producing a bomb because it requires weaponizing such materials.

In this context, John Kirby said on Monday that if Iran does not accept the return to the JCPOA, as President Biden has clearly stated, pressure on Iran will increase with the cooperation of allies and partners in the region and Europe, while at the same time ensuring that we have sufficient military capacity to defend allies in the region and national security interests.

Negotiations to revive the JCPOA resumed on December 28, 2018, after a hiatus of several months following the inauguration of Ebrahim Raisi's government.

Ali Bagheri Kani was Iran's chief negotiator in this new round of talks, which continued in Vienna with the participation of the JCPOA member states and the indirect presence of the United States. In this regard, it was said that the draft agreement to revive the JCPOA is almost complete.

Following reports that the draft was being prepared, US officials said that Iran had demanded that the Revolutionary Guard be removed from the list of terrorist groups. On the other hand, in early April of this year, an informed source close to the JCPOA revival talks in Vienna told Radio Farda that the Islamic Republic government's commitment to halt operational follow-up to the case of the killing of Qassem Soleimani was one of the main conditions for removing the IRGC from the US government's terrorist list.

After the halt in negotiations to revive the JCPOA in Vienna in March of last year, Iran and the United States have been blaming each other for the halt in these negotiations.

On July 28 of this year, Iran and the United States held indirect talks in Doha, Qatar, mediated by the European Union's foreign policy chief, but these talks also failed to produce any results.

Source: Radio Farda