US not planning to ease sanctions on Iran for JCPOA deal: State Dept

By Al Mayadeen English
Source: Agencies
15 Aug 23:21

Washington believes everything that can be negotiated already has been, according to the US State Department.

US State Department Spokesperson Ned Price

The US State Department said on Monday that the only way to resurrect the 2015 Iran nuclear agreement is for Tehran to drop its “extraneous demands”.

State Department Spokesperson Ned Price told reporters at a briefing that the US would provide its response to the European Union's "final" text on reviving the deal in private, but gave no timetable. According to diplomats, the EU requested a response on Monday.

Price also added that Washington believes everything that can be negotiated already has been.

"The only way to achieve a mutual return to compliance with the JCPOA is for Iran to drop further unacceptable demands that go beyond the scope of the JCPOA. We have long called these demands extraneous," Price stated.

The US diplomat stated that “if Iran cannot accept a mutual return to JCPOA, US is equally prepared to continue vigorous enforcement of our sanctions.”

On the issue of easing sanctions on Iran's Islamic Revolution Guard Corps (IRGC), Price said the United States is not planning to relax the enforcement of sanctions against Iran, including the "foreign terrorist organizations" (FTO) designations and sanctions on the Islamic Revolution's Guard Corps (IRGC).

"If Iran wants these [FTO, IRGC] sanctions lifted, they will need to alter their underlying conduct. They will need to change the dangerous activities that gave rise to these sanctions in the first place," Price claimed during a press briefing.

"We do not plan to relax enforcement of the sanctions. We have not offered to do so in the context of the JCPOA [Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action] talks."

Price added that even if the JCPOA talks are successful, Washington will continue to confront the alleged "threats" posed by the IRGC.

US President Joe Biden dismissed in April a demand from Iran for him to reverse a decision taken by the Trump administration in 2019 to label the IRGC a "terrorist organization". A group of US senators in May signed a resolution declaring that the US should not agree to any deal that would entail the lifting of sanctions on Iran.

Major powers and Iran are holding talks in Vienna with the aim of reviving the 2015 nuclear agreement and returning the United States to it following Washington's unilateral withdrawal in 2018 under then-President Donald Trump, who accompanied his decision with the imposition of harsh sanctions on Tehran.