Russia: US leaving JCPOA like shooting itself in foot

“The decision to withdraw from JCPOA was like shooting in one of US legs. It doesn’t matter if it was left or right leg,” Russia’s Permanent Representative to the Vienna-based international organizations Mikhail Ulyanov wrote on Twitter on Wednesday.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken has recently called Washington’s withdrawal from the 2015 Iran nuclear deal “a terrible mistake”.

Former US President Donald Trump, a stern critic of the historic deal, unilaterally pulled Washington out of the agreement in 2018, and unleashed the “toughest ever” sanctions against Iran.

Blinken stated the US continues to promote a diplomatic solution to the nuclear question, but “the runway is getting very, very short” for negotiations, given Tehran’s technological advances.

He characterized the Trump administration’s withdrawal from the 2015 international nuclear agreement as “a terrible mistake”.

“We continue to believe that the best way, the most effective way, to resolve the nuclear challenge posed by Iran is through diplomacy and through a return to mutual compliance with the so-called JCPOA, the Iran nuclear deal,” he said.

“Given all of the alternatives – and there are alternatives – it remains the best way to actually answer the problem,” the top diplomat added.

In early November, US President Joe Biden stated the United States is “continuing to suffer” from Trump’s decision to pull Washington out of the Iran nuclear deal.

However, the Biden administration has imposed sanctions on Iranian entities and officials. Iran has called Washington sanctions against Tehran the continuation of US failed policies pursued by the Trump administration.

After a five-month hiatus, diplomats have resumed negotiations on reviving the nuclear deal.

Iran has tabled two draft documents in the highly fraught nuclear negotiations in Vienna demanding all sanctions imposed by Washington be removed.

Iran’s top negotiator and Deputy Foreign Minister Ali Bagheri has noted the ball is in the court of the United States over nuclear dispute, and Washington must remove the anti-Tehran sanctions.

Iran’s Foreign Minister Hossein Amir Abdollahian has also reiterated that there is no way to revive the landmark agreement without removing all anti-Tehran sanctions.