SULAIMANI (ESTA) — Iran said on Saturday it believes the U.S. sanctions will soon be lifted despite continuing “diplomatic wrangling”, signaling Tehran’s desire to end the impasse while not offering a new position.
“We predict with confidence that diplomatic initiatives will result in a favourable outcome despite the diplomatic wrangling, which are a natural prelude to the return of the parties to their commitments, including the lifting of all sanctions in the near future,” Iran’s government spokesman Ali Rabiei was quoted as saying by the official IRNA news agency, according to Reuters.
The United States and Iran have been at odds over who should take the first step to revive the 2015 accord.
Iran insists that the United States must first lift former President Donald Trump’s sanctions while the United States Tehran must first return to compliance with the agreement.
Under the deal, Iran accepted curbs to its nuclear program in return for the lifting of international sanctions. Washington reimposed sanctions after Trump quit, and Iran responded by violating some of the deal’s nuclear limits.
The White House said on Friday that the United States planned to take no additional actions in response to pressure from Iran before potential talks with Tehran and major powers about returning to the accord.
The United States said on Thursday that it was ready to talk to Iran about both nations returning to a 2015 pact that aimed to prevent Tehran from acquiring nuclear weapons, which Biden’s predecessor Donald Trump abandoned nearly three years ago.
Adding to pressure for a resolution to the impasse, a law passed by the hardline parliament obliges Tehran on Feb. 23 to limit the sweeping access given to U.N. inspectors under the deal.
Rabiei said the law “does not go against our commitment” to the agreement, nor is it “an obstacle to our appropriate response to American actions”.
