Sullivan: US Seeks to Form United Front Against Iran
Jake Sullivan, the White House National Security Advisor, said on Tuesday, November 25, that the US government is seeking coordination with three European countries to form a “united front” against Iran.
Jake Sullivan, in response to a question about the American president’s European trip, said Joe Biden will discuss Iran with European partners namely Britain, France and Germany, the three countries participating in the nuclear agreement known as the JCPOA.
The White House National Security Advisor added that part of the reasons the president (Joe Biden) wants to use the opportunity for close coordination with his European partners, particularly with the three European countries that are part of the negotiations, is so that after four years of disagreement on Iran policy in the previous US administration, we have a united front.
Jake Sullivan further emphasized that returning to negotiations to revive the JCPOA in Vienna, the capital of Austria, is a top priority for the US government.
The White House National Security Advisor, in response to the question of “when will you decide to pursue alternative plans to the JCPOA,” said: We are concerned and vigilant about the steps they have taken since withdrawing from the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA).
Jake Sullivan further added that within the framework of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, significant and fundamental restrictions were imposed on their nuclear program. We had placed restrictions on Iran’s nuclear program, now we don’t have those restrictions because we no longer have such an agreement.
The White House National Security Advisor, however, said we believe there is still an opportunity to resolve this through diplomacy.
So far, six rounds of negotiations to revive the nuclear agreement known as the JCPOA have been held with the presence of Iran, Russia, Britain, France, Germany and China and the indirect participation of the US in Vienna, the capital of Austria. However, following Ibrahim Raisi’s victory in the presidential election, these negotiations were suspended at Iran’s request.
On the same day, Ali Bagheri Kani, Iran’s Deputy Foreign Minister, arrived in Brussels to discuss previous JCPOA negotiations with the European coordinator of the JCPOA Joint Commission.
In this regard, Lawrence Norman, a Wall Street Journal reporter, wrote that three European countries proposed to Ali Bagheri Kani to hold a joint meeting to accelerate negotiations, but he rejected this proposal.
Previously, the US had announced that Iran’s negotiations with the European coordinator of the JCPOA revival negotiations would not be a substitute for Vienna talks.
Robert Malley, US Special Envoy for Iran Affairs, said on Monday in this regard that the answers to Iran’s questions are in Vienna and not Brussels.
Robert Malley said that US patience with Iran’s approach to returning to Vienna talks is running out and Tehran’s arguments for justifying the delay in resuming these negotiations are very weak.
Although Iranian government officials have said in recent weeks that the JCPOA revival negotiations will resume “soon,” so far they have not set a specific time to return to these negotiations.
Source: Radio Farda
