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News > Iran

UN Urges Biden To Lift All Sanctions on Iran as Agreed in 2015

  • UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres urged the U.S. to remove all sanctions on Iran as agreed to in 2015.

    UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres urged the U.S. to remove all sanctions on Iran as agreed to in 2015. | Photo: Twitter/@AJEnglish

Published 30 June 2021
Opinion

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has asked Biden’s administration to lift or waive all sanctions on Iran as agreed under the 2015 nuclear deal to prevent Iran from further developing nuclear weapons.

In a report to the United Nations Security Council, Guterres urged the United States to “extend the waivers concerning the trade-in oil with the Islamic Republic of Iran, and fully renew waivers for nuclear non-proliferation projects.”

The UN Security Council on Wednesday will discuss the secretary-general’s biannual report on the implementation of a 2015 resolution that codifies the nuclear deal between Iran, the United States, France, the United Kingdom, Germany, Russia, China, and the European Union.

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Guterres’ appeal to Washington came as talks to revive the deal – known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) – are underway, an agreement in which Iran accepted to curb its nuclear program in return for a lifting of foreign sanctions against the country.

Former U.S. President Donald Trump withdrew the pact in 2018 and reimposed deadly sanctions, prompting Tehran to continue violating many of the nuclear limits in 2019.

One of Iran’s decisions to reduce compliance was to end extra monitoring of its nuclear sites by the IAEA in February. While inspections were extended twice through temporary deals, the final one ended last week.

Guterres, who also asked Iran to return to full implementation of the deal, said: “I appeal to the United States to lift or waive its sanctions outlined in the plan."

Iran has uranium refined up to a purity of roughly 60 percent, above the deal’s limit of 3.67 percent, and close to the 90 percent suitable for atom bomb cores. The country holds that it seeks civilian nuclear power and would quickly reverse its moves if Washington lifted sanctions and returned to the 2015 joint deal.

Many analysts contend that Iran has been waiting for the election of Ebrahim Raisi, whose approach is backed by Supreme Leader Ali Hosseini Khamenei—the decisive factor of Iran’s foreign policy.

Experts say Iran may strike a deal before Raisi assumes power in August – allowing him to take credit for the expected economic boost while blaming outgoing President Hassan Rouhani, a moderate who championed closer relations with the West if the national situation further deteriorates.

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