Iran: We won’t talk nuclear deal until Biden lifts sanctions

Iran’s Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif addressed a joint press conference with his Venezuelan counterpart Delcy Rodriguez following their meeting in the Iranian capital Tehran on April 20, 2015. (Photo by ATTA KENARE/AFP via Getty Images)

OAN Newsroom
UPDATED 1:14 PM PT – Monday, February 8, 2021

Iranian leadership is claiming it is America’s responsibility to lift sanctions before Iran will resume compliance with the nuclear deal. Iran’s Foreign Minister Javad Zarif made those remarks during an interview on Sunday.

Though Iran acknowledged it broke some of the agreement’s terms following U.S. withdrawal under President Trump, it maintained the U.S. is responsible for the deal’s failure.

In an echo of previous ultimatums issued by other top Iranian officials, Zarif took a hardline stance, saying it is the U.S. which must make concessions to reestablish the agreement.

“We do not buy the horse twice. You put yourselves in our shoes, you agreed to a deal,” Zarif stated. “You agreed to give and take. You agreed to sacrifice certain demands that you had, because you agreed not to deal with certain issues.”

Why on earth should Iran—a country that stood firm & defeated 4 years of a brutal US economic terrorism imposed in violation of JCPOA & UNSC Resolution—show goodwill gesture first?

It was the US that broke the deal—for no reason. It must remedy its wrong; then Iran will respond.

— Javad Zarif (@JZarif) January 26, 2021

The controversy came amid growing pressure on Joe Biden to declare whether he will seek to rejoin the deal despite reports indicating Iran is continuing to enrich material that could be used in production of nuclear weapons.

Critics of the deal have said the terms did not do enough to prevent Iran from developing nuclear capabilities.

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