Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif advised the United States to quickly rejoin the Iranian nuclear accord, warning that the Islamic Republic’s June presidential elections could prevent progress in any talks.
“The Europeans are used to compromise. Iran and the United States are not. The Americans are used to imposing, and we are used to resisting,” Zarif said during an online conference with the European Policy Centre think-tank in Brussels.
“So now is the time to decide will we both compromise and go back to the JCPOA, or will we go back to our own paths?”
The top Iranian diplomat said that he had seen no change between the Biden administration and the Trump administration’s policy of maximum pressure to force Iran back to the negotiating table. He said he saw no reason to hold preliminary talks, because the US was making “extraneous” demands.
“There is a time constraint and that is once we go to our election it is a lame duck government and (it) will not be able to do anything serious and then we will have a waiting period of almost six months,” Zarif said, referring to a presidential election due on June 18.
“A lot of things can happen between now and September. So, it is advisable for the United States move fast and moving fast requires them not be shy, but takes measures that they need to take.”
Iran has repeatedly stated that the US, which pulled out of the nuclear deal, must make the first move to make amends and should not set any preconditions.
“We are ready to go back immediately after the United States goes back to implementation of the deal. That’s as simple as that,” Zarif noted.
“We don’t see any reason for talks; we can go immediately to implementation and then have talks,” Zarif said, also noting that “up until now, this administration has done nothing different from the Trump administration.”
Source: Agencies
