WASHINGTON
\nThe US pointman on Iran warned on Wednesday it was more likely than not that talks would fail to revive a nuclear deal as he vowed no let-up in pressure if Tehran clings to its demands.
\nRob Malley, who has led more than a year of indirect talks with Iran in Vienna, nonetheless told lawmakers that President Joe Biden\u2019s administration still supported the 2015 nuclear accord and was ready to lift sanctions if it secures an agreement.
\n\u201cAs of today the odds of a successful negotiation are lower than the odds of failure and that is because of excessive Iranian demands to which we will not succumb,\u201d Malley told the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.
\nHe said the United States would reject \u201cdemands that go beyond the scope of the JCPOA,\u201d using the official name for the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action. \u201cWe are fully prepared to live with and confront that reality if that is Iran\u2019s choice,\u201d Malley said.
\nHe was likely referring to the clerical state\u2019s demands to remove a terrorism blacklisting of the elite Revolutionary Guards, a step rejected by Biden and bitterly opposed by many in Congress.
\nBut Malley made clear that Biden did not support military action — an option loudly mulled by Israel, which is suspected in a shadowy campaign of assassination against Iranian nuclear scientists.
\n\u201cAll options are on the table,\u201d Malley said, while adding that military action would only \u201cset back\u201d Iran\u2019s nuclear program. Referring to the US history of war in the Middle East, Malley said, \u201cWe know that it costs.\u201d
\n\u201cBut let\u2019s leave it at this — the only solution here is a diplomatic one.\u201d Malley, however, warned of greater economic pressure if talks fail — and said the United States would have the support of the Europeans, unlike under former president Donald Trump.
\nThe Treasury Department said on Wednesday it was imposing sanctions on a network backed by Revolutionary Guard and Russian officials that has shipped hundreds of millions of dollars of oil in defiance of unilateral US sanctions.
\nThe JCPOA — brokered under then president Barack Obama with the blessing of European powers, Russia and China — promised economic relief for Iran which, inspectors said, had been complying with the accord\u2019s severe curbs on its nuclear programme.
\nTrump withdrew in 2018 and imposed sweeping unilateral sanctions including on Iran\u2019s oil, vowing to bring Tehran to its knees. Malley said that Trump\u2019s approach had demonstrably failed, with Iran stepping up nuclear work since the US pullout.
\nSenators including some from Biden\u2019s Democratic Party voiced exasperation, noting that Secretary of State Antony Blinken had warned in January that only \u201ca few weeks\u201d were left before Iran had advanced to the point that the JCPOA was no longer beneficial.
\n\u201cWe continue to wait and hope. But hope is not a national security strategy,\u201d said Senator Bob Menendez, the Democratic chairman of the committee. Menendez said Iran had convinced the world \u201cthat the United States wants the JCPOA more than the Iranian regime does.\u201d
\nMalley replied that technical assessments remain \u201cthat the nonproliferation benefits of the deal are worth the sanctions relief that we would provide.\u201d He also offered strong criticism of Iran\u2019s crackdown on recent protests against austerity measures. \u201cI don\u2019t think this is a strong regime that is basking in being able to circumvent sanctions,\u201d Malley said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
WASHINGTON The US pointman on Iran warned on Wednesday it was more likely than not that talks would fail to revive a nuclear deal as he vowed no let-up in pressure if Tehran clings to its demands. Rob Malley, who has led more than a year of indirect talks with Iran in Vienna, nonetheless told […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":262903,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[7793,7794,444],"class_list":{"0":"post-262872","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-world","8":"tag-iran-deal","9":"tag-negotiator","10":"tag-us"},"yoast_head":"\n