WASHINGTON
\nThe US State Department is waiving sanctions on Iran\u2019s civilian nuclear programme in a technical step necessary to return to the 2015 nuclear agreement, a senior official said Friday. The resumption of the waiver, ended by the Donald Trump administration in 2020, \u201cwould be essential to ensuring Iran\u2019s swift compliance\u201d if a new deal on controlling Tehran\u2019s nuclear programme can be reached in talks in Vienna, the State Department official said.
\nThe waiver allows other countries and companies to participate in Iran\u2019s civilian nuclear programme without triggering the US sanctions on them, in the name of promoting safety and non-proliferation.
\nThe civilian programme includes Iran\u2019s increasing stockpiles of enriched uranium. \u201cAbsent this sanctions waiver, detailed technical discussions with third parties regarding disposition of stockpiles and other activities of nonproliferation value cannot take place,\u201d the official said, insisting on anonymity.
\nThe step came as talks to restore the 2015 Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, or JCPOA, which then president Trump unilaterally withdrew from in 2018, were at an advanced stage.
\nJoe Biden moved quickly to return to the agreement after he became president a year ago, but Iran in the meantime has moved increasingly closer to producing enough fissile material for a nuclear weapon.
\nThe Vienna talks, which include Iran, the United States, Britain, China, France, Germany and Russia, are at a key stage where the parties have to make \u201ccritical political decisions\u201d, a senior US official said last week.
\n\u201cThe technical discussions facilitated by the waiver are necessary in the final weeks of JCPOA talks,\u201d the State Department official said Friday. The US official insisted that the move was not \u201cpart of a quid pro quo\u201d, as the partners in the JCPOA talks await Iran\u2019s response on key issues.
\nState Department spokesperson Ned Price insisted this US step is a sanctions waiver for the civilian nuclear programme and not broader sanctions relief.
\nPrice wrote on Twitter: \u201cWe did not provide sanctions relief for Iran and will not unless Tehran returns to its commitments under the JCPOA. We did precisely what the last administration did: permit our international partners to address growing nuclear non-proliferation and safety risks in Iran\u201d.
\nBut even if a final deal is not reached, the department official said, the waiver is important to holding discussions on the non-proliferation of nuclear weapons, of interest to the entire world.
\nBut the senior administration official who briefed reporters on the talks last week said time was running out, and urged Tehran to make important decisions.
\n\u201cI think we\u2019re at the point where some of the most critical political decisions have to be made by all sides,\u201d the official said. The official proposed direct talks between Washington and Tehran to focus on the most difficult issues separating the sides.
\n\u201cIf our goal is to reach an understanding quickly… the optimal way to do that, in any negotiation, is for the parties that have the most at stake to meet directly,\u201d the official said. In late January, Iran said for the first time it was open to the idea of direct negotiations with the United States, but since then has not said where it stands. Experts say the JCPOA talks could resume next week, after halting a week ago.
\nBarbara Slavin, an Iran expert at the Atlantic Council, said the resumption of the waiver was a positive step.
\n\u201cIt\u2019s a necessary prerequisite to restoring the JCPOA and thus a good sign that this can be accomplished,\u201d she told the AFP.
\n\u201cThese sanctions were among the dumbest and most counterproductive imposed by the former administration,\u201d she added. US steps on lifting sanctions are \u201cgood but not enough\u201d, Iran\u2019s foreign minister said Saturday, hours after Washington announced it was waiving some sanctions on Iran\u2019s civilian nuclear programme. \u201cThe lifting of some sanctions can, in the true sense of the word, translate into their goodwill. Americans talk about it, but it should be known that what happens on paper is good but not enough,\u201d Hossein Amir-Abdollahian was quoted as saying by ISNA news agency.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
WASHINGTON The US State Department is waiving sanctions on Iran\u2019s civilian nuclear programme in a technical step necessary to return to the 2015 nuclear agreement, a senior official said Friday. The resumption of the waiver, ended by the Donald Trump administration in 2020, \u201cwould be essential to ensuring Iran\u2019s swift compliance\u201d if a new deal […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-242968","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-world"},"yoast_head":"\n