US: Agreement on revival of JCPOA is neither imminent nor certain
A spokesperson for the US State Department said on Monday, April 1, that an agreement to revive the JCPOA is neither imminent nor certain.
Ned Price told reporters that Washington is simultaneously preparing for scenarios with or without a reciprocal return to full implementation of the Iran nuclear deal.
He stressed that the United States is ready to make "tough decisions" to return Iran's nuclear program to the restrictions imposed in the JCPOA.
The American official's remarks come as Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian said in a telephone conversation with his Iraqi counterpart on Monday that "we are close to the final stage of the agreement."
He called the remaining issues in the Vienna talks to revive the JCPOA "few" but "very important," and said Iran had presented "initiatives through the European Union coordinator" to the United States.
Without mentioning the remaining issues, the Iranian foreign minister claimed: "Now it is the American side that must demonstrate its alleged goodwill in action."
Iran and six world powers reached an agreement in July 2015 to limit Tehran's nuclear program in exchange for the lifting of international sanctions. But former US President Donald Trump withdrew from the agreement, known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), in May 2018 and imposed severe sanctions on the Islamic Republic.
A year later, Iran gradually reneged on its commitments in the agreement and intensified its nuclear activities, including 60 percent enrichment and suspension of the Additional Protocol.
With the coming to power of the Democratic administration of Joe Biden in January 2021, nuclear negotiations began between Iran and the remaining countries in the JCPOA, directly, and the United States indirectly, but despite the negotiations reaching the final stage, some unresolved differences remain.
Iran says the US must guarantee that it will not withdraw from the JCPOA in the future, an issue that the Joe Biden administration has stated is not within the jurisdiction of future US administrations to decide.
Iran also wants all US sanctions lifted, while Washington has announced that it will only lift nuclear sanctions.
Recently, reports have emerged of negotiations between Iran and the United States to remove the Revolutionary Guard Corps from the United States' list of terrorist groups.
Three Israeli officials and two American sources have told the Axios website that the Joe Biden administration is considering removing the Revolutionary Guard Corps from the terrorist list in exchange for Tehran's commitment to reducing tensions in the region.
White House spokeswoman Jen Psaki said in a press conference on March 18, implicitly defending the idea of removing the Revolutionary Guard Corps from the US terrorist list: "The current situation has not made the United States safer."
In response to reporters' questions about the possibility of removing the Revolutionary Guard Corps from the US list of terrorist organizations, he said: "Negotiations are currently underway."
Source: Radio Farda
