Iranian President Hassan Rouhani remarked on Thursday that the Biden administration is “dragging their feet” and utterly failing at taking advantage of its chance to return to the Iran nuclear deal the US withdrew from in 2018.
Rouhani reiterated to the Iranian public that Iran would willingly resume compliance to the 2015 deal, so long as the Biden White House returned as a signer and committed to its promises under the agreement, which include the lifting of its strict sanctions.
“This would mean a win-win bargain for the region and the entire world, which would benefit them,” the Iranian president stated, referring to the US’ potential return. “The Americans were not able to understand that and failed to seize this golden opportunity.”
“They have been dragging their feet, and we have been getting messages and news, which show this new [US] administration is far from the reality about Iran,” Rouhani added, noting that the US officials have a “lack of knowledge” when it comes to the Middle Eastern nation.
Rouhani went on to emphasize that although Iran has been the only party to shoulder the burden of the deal, it would “continue on the path of production, development, morality and constructive interaction to the end.”
At the time, former US President Donald Trump withdrew the Land of the Free from the nuclear deal in 2018 over unconfirmed allegations that Tehran had violated its commitments to the deal, underscoring that the deal was a failure of the Obama administration.
The remainder of the Trump years saw a so-called “maximum campaign” pressure against Iran, where on top of reimposing sanction against the nation, the US also tacked on additional financial hurdles on top of a slew of designations against its institutions.
Although the Biden administration has tiptoed around outlining its foreign policy with Iran, the US has opted to keep in place many Trump-era policies.
Incidentally, Rouhani’s remarks came days after reports surfaced that the Biden administration is weighing the possibility of putting forth a new proposal in order to ease tensions with Iran. Reports indicated that the proposal was expected to be released as soon as this week, although it’s likely Tehran will double down and urge Washington to simply return to the JCPOA.