Tehran has refused to negotiate while U.S. sanctions remain in place.
WASHINGTON – President Joe Biden said the United States will not offer sanctions relief as a way to entice Iran back to the negotiating table over the country’s nuclear program. Biden, in an interview with CBS, indicated that Iran would have to stop enriching uranium before his administration would lift sanctions. The interview airs in full Sunday evening. When asked if the U.S. would lift sanctions to get Iran back to the negotiating table, Biden said «no.» Tensions between Washington and Tehran have mounted following former President Donald Trump’s withdrawal from the landmark nuclear agreement. The 2015 Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, brokered by the Obama administration, lifted sanctions on Iran that had crippled its economy and cut its oil exports roughly in half. In exchange for sanctions relief, Iran accepted limits on its nuclear program until the terms expire in 2025. The U.S. and its European allies believe Iran has ambitions to develop a nuclear bomb. Tehran has denied that allegation. Trump withdrew the United States from the JCPOA in 2018, calling it the «worst deal ever» Following Washington’s exit from the landmark nuclear deal, other signatories of the pact — France, Germany, the U.
