The international affairs analyst said the possibility of the United States accepting to lift all sanctions and verification is little, and stressed that the West was looking at sanctions as a tool.
Referring to the Western governments demands regarding the JCPOA, Hassan Beheshtipour stated in "Rouydad"; “The Americans did not fulfill their obligations regarding the JCPOA and even worse, they withdrew from this agreement. While Biden promised to return to the nuclear deal, today they raised their demands again.
He continued; “The Russian Foreign Minister emphasizes that the United States should first fulfil their promises under the JCPOA, and then speak about their other demands.”
According to Beheshtipour, the basic logic of any negotiation is for both sides to start from where they agreed.
In this regard, the Iranian side has fully fulfilled its obligations and 14 reports from the Nuclear Energy Agency have confirmed that Iran has fulfilled its obligations.
He continued; “The United States should now implement the initial agreement and then discuss other issues, and that’s if both parties agree!”
In his interview with Radio Goftogoo, Beheshtipour emphasized; “If changes are to be made in the JCPOA as a basic agreement, Iran will also have many demands that have not been fulfilled by the other side.”
“In this case, the whole issue is disrupted; therefore, it is necessary for all parties to adhere to the agreed text and implement it. That is why the Russian Foreign Minister insists that the July agreement be implemented and then other issues be discussed,” he added..
Explaining Iran's strategy, he told Radio Goftogoo; “Iran clearly and precisely declared that the other side has not taken the agreed measures, and now to show their goodwill, some commitments are necessary. But the United States doesn’t accept to release at least some of Iran's assets.”
Beheshtipour then pointed to the new US sanctions; “The JCPOA was in the nuclear framework, but now the US makes some excuses outside the nuclear issues, and they are imposing sanctions accordingly.
He also mentioned that preventing the extension of sanctions is a very difficult step and stressed that achieving this important issue calls for long term negotiations; “The main problems in this regard are the embargo on the sale of oil, the central bank and petrochemicals, which, if removed, would leave an important part of Iran's economy free from the impact of sanctions.”
Beheshtipour likened the new sanctions to a game and stressed that other issues could not be discussed until the JCPOA commitments were fulfilled.
He also spoke about the views diversities which exist between the West and Iran; “During Trump’s time, there was a big difference between the United States and Europe since Europe wanted the JCPOA to be continued, but the United States insisted on changing the nuclear deal. When Biden came to power, these differences were minimized and the G20 summit indicated this. But their differences with Russia and China remain strong.”
Russia and China insist on full implementation of the JCPOA, but the West is postponing it to agree on issues other than those discussed under the tact. Iran also demands the lift of all sanctions and says that after verification, those obligations agreed under the nuclear deal should be fulfilled, but I believe this is very unlikely since the West uses these sanctions as a tool.”
Beheshtipour added; “We have to move towards a "action for action "solution; in other words, something can be done so that they can release part of Iran's assets and in return Iran can stop part of the 60% Uranium enrichment.”
Then for the next step, they can lift sanctions put on Iran Central Bank altogether and we can stop the 20% enrichment in return, and wherever the other side does not fulfill its commitment, Iran can return to the previous situation. This method will get us to the conclusion sooner.”
By Azdeh Khajeh Nasiri
