Biden administration will return to JCPOA but won’t remove sanctions immediately

An international business professor at the George Washington University believes the Biden Administration will return to the historic 2015 nuclear agreement (JCPOA) in order to make his former boss Barack Obama happy and also strengthen ties with Europeans who may feel “betrayed” by the United States.
Nevertheless, Professor Hossein Askari says Biden will not lift
sanctions on Iran immediately; he will try to build on the many cruel sanctions
that Trump imposed on Iran.
“He will not remove the sanctions imposed by Trump in return
for Iran destroying any excess enriched fuel that they have accumulated and
addressing any other infraction after Trump’s withdrawal from the treaty,”
Askari remarked.
One year after the Trump administration formally withdrew
from the nuclear deal, Iran stated that its “strategic patience” is over and
started to slowly remove limits on its nuclear activities.
Professor Askari also commented that Iran should not budge
on its defensive missile program as the country is heavily “surrounded by the
U.S. and its allies.”
The following is the
entire text of the interview conducted and published by the Tehran Times:
“Q: As Joe Biden is poised to become the president of the
United States, do you think he will move quickly to restore the nuclear
agreement (JCPOA)?
A: I think Biden will want to get the agreement back and on
track again for a number of reasons. This agreement was the singular success
and legacy of the Obama era. Biden would bring a smile on the face of his
former boss. It would also strengthen relations with U.S. allies in Europe who
feel they have been betrayed by the United States. And it would show that the
U.S. will honor its agreements and restore some confidence in the international
system that has been shattered by Trump.
“Biden will not be a panacea for Iran’s ongoing problems”
But I don’t think that Biden would say, okay let’s go back
and assume that the agreement was fully in force. Namely, he will not remove
the sanctions imposed by Trump in return for Iran destroying any excess
enriched fuel that they have accumulated and addressing any other infraction
after Trump’s withdrawal from the treaty. Biden will want more. Biden will ask
for a dramatic curtailment of Iran’s missile program, for Iran to cut ties with
Syria, Hezbollah, Houthis, militias in Iraq, with Hamas and who knows who else
and demand that Iran pulls its advisors and forces from anywhere outside of
Iran’s borders. He will tie all these to restoring the nuclear agreement and
lifting sanctions, and even then, only step by step and not with total removal
of sanctions.
So don’t think that Biden will be a panacea for Iran’s
ongoing problems. Trump has done Iran much harm. And Trump, as all U.S.
presidents before him, says that he is doing this to bring freedom and human
rights for the Iranian people.
Q: Let’s look at the possible but new U.S. conditions one by
one. Is the U.S. justified to make such demands? Let’s begin with Iran’s
defensive missile program.
A: Well, at the outset let me say that the Trump
administration, Israel and a number of others have falsely said that Iran’s
missile program was covered in the JCPOA. It was not. Lies are the hallmarks of
the Trump presidency. Iran needs to defend itself. Just recall the invasion of
Saddam Hussein and how the international community stood idly by, supported the
aggressor and trashed the most important article in the UN Charter. Iran cannot
rely on international agreements and the United Nations for its security. It
needs strong defensive and deterrent capabilities surrounded by the U.S. and
its allies.
“Iran cannot rely on international agreements and the United
Nations for its security.”
As important, how can Biden with a straight face demand all
these when the United States has armed Israel and the Persian Gulf countries
who are members of the PGCC to the teeth and has its own military capabilities
poised in the region? It is duplicity to the max. Iran must not even entertain
any such discussions.
Q: How about Iran’s association with certain elements in the
region that the U.S. has labelled as hostile?
A: It is ironic that the United States talks about Iran’s
associations with undesirable elements, while it embraces the worst possible
rogue elements and states in the region. Let’s start with Mohammad bin Salman
or MBS and how he has treated his own people and had a U.S.-based journalist,
Khashoggi, butchered to death and pours down bombs indiscriminately on
civilians in Yemen. Yet, the U.S.
President has nothing but praise for Saudi Arabia. Look at Israel, a country
that tramples on international law every day by confiscating Palestinian lands
to build Israeli settlements, oppresses Palestinians and blockades the people
of Gaza to deprive them of much-needed humanitarian assistance. The U.S
embraces the dictator Sisi in Egypt who helps Israel in oppressing the people
of Gaza and tramples on the rights of all Egyptians. Look the U.S. is in no
position to lecture anyone about their misplaced associations.
Q: Lastly, what about a demand that Iran should pull out its
advisors from anywhere in the region?
A: Look the U.S is some 7,000 miles from the Persian Gulf
but surrounds Iran with its own forces and with the help of its allies. It
carries out special operations into every country. Yet Iran cannot advise its
allies in the region? Let’s get serious. This demand should be dismissed until
the United States withdraws all its forces from the entire Middle East.
Q: Do you think Iran should seek justice for the
assassination of General Soleimani?
A: Absolutely. Iran should launch a complaint with the
International Court of Justice. And even with the International Criminal Court,
which the U.S. does not recognize. Also, Iran should have list of all those
involved in any way with this assassination and if they ever travel outside the
U.S. Iran should attempt to have them arrested and extradited or brought in
front of the International Criminal Court.
“The International Court of Justice is the appropriate venue
if the U.S. will not address Iran’s complaint” about the damages caused by
sanctions, says the professor.
Q: Do you think Iran
should be compensated for the economic hardship caused by the U.S. pullout from
the international nuclear agreement and imposing sanctions?
A: Yes. The U.S. broke an international agreement to which
it was a signatory. Iran had not deviated from the agreement. As a result, Iran
has suffered human and economic losses. The International Court of Justice is
the appropriate venue if the U.S. will not address Iran’s complaint.
Q: What can Iran and Iranians abroad do to alleviate the
pressures imposed by the United States?
A: Iran must address its economic woes. Iran has wasted much
time and many opportunities after the Iran-Iraq War. Economic reforms and
addressing Iran’s economic shortcomings becomes harder with each passing day.
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