Iranian President Hassan Rouhani on Wednesday accused the United States of hypocrisy, saying it would not take Washington a long time to return to the JCPOA - if it wanted to do so, Press TV reported.
According to the Iranian leader, “mere slogans and interviews will not work. The Americans must act and do everything in their power” to speed up the revival of the agreement.
“The Americans lie when they say a return to their commitments and the lifting of the sanctions will take 2 to 3 months... It can be done with one decree and in one hour. All it needs is the will to do so, and if there is a serious resolve, the US can return to all its obligations in a single day, and we can also return to all our commitments.”
Rouhani noted that the “most vicious” US administration (meaning that of former president Donald Trump) had imposed inhumane sanctions against the Islamic Republic, and Joe Biden, despite changing its approach in rhetoric, has so far failed to take any real steps in that direction.
On Tuesday, Iran's Foreign Minister Javad Zarif slammed the Biden administration for the very same thing - pursuing the policies of the former US commander-in-chief by punishing Iran's actions via sanctions, while two years ago, Biden himself criticized that approach.
“[The Biden administration] follows Trump's footsteps while trying to use his unlawful sanctions as “leverage,” Zarif tweeted.
"It's sadly ironic that the State Dept is now calling on Iran to abide by the very deal the Trump administration abandoned."@POTUS, 2019
— Javad Zarif (@JZarif) March 30, 2021
Your admin follows Trump's footsteps while trying to use his unlawful sanctions as "leverage".
Nasty habits die hard. Time to kick this one. pic.twitter.com/PIhN1YwT3e
Despite promises to return the United States to the JCPOA, Biden appears to be seeking a new, broader agreement that would cover such outstanding issues as Iran's missile program. Tehran has strongly rejected the idea of renegotiating the agreement, insisting it should be preserved in the original version.
On Monday, Politico reported, citing sources, that the Biden administration planned to put forward a new proposal as soon as this week in a bid to break the deadlock in talks. Washington will ask Tehran to suspend some of its nuclear activities, such as working on advanced centrifuges and enriching uranium to a purity level of 20 percent, in exchange for some economic sanctions relief. The proposal does not guarantee, however, that nuclear talks will be revived, as it is still unclear whether Tehran will accept it.
