Ayatollah Khamenei Says Iran In ‘No Rush’ to See US Rejoin Nuclear Deal

 

Khamenei called for sanctions relief, said if the US returns to its commitments, Iran will return to theirs

Dave DeCamp 

Posted onJanuary 8, 2021CategoriesNewsTagsIran

Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said Iran is in “no rush” to see the US rejoin the 2015 nuclear deal, but reiterated the call for Washington to lift economic sanctions reimposed by President Trump in 2018.

“We are in no rush and we are not insisting on their return. Our demand, which is both logical and rational, is the lifting of sanctions,” Khamenei said in a televised speech on Friday. “We are talking about a right which has been stolen from the Iranian nation.”

Since the Trump administration withdrew from the nuclear deal, known as the JCPOA, Iran has been gradually violating its commitments under the agreement. But Iranian leaders have made it clear if the US upholds its side of the deal by lifting sanctions, Iran will quickly come back into compliance with the JCPOA.

“When the other party meets practically none of its obligations, it is not logical for the Islamic republic to honor all of its commitments,” Khamenei said. “If they return to their commitments, we will return to ours.”

The supreme leader said Iran’s ultimate goal is to make US sanctions ineffective, so the health of the country’s economy is not reliant on US presidential cycles. “But we must also plan our economy in a way that we could run the country well despite sanctions,” he said.

Also on Friday, Khamenei said he was banning the import of coronavirus vaccines produced in the US, UK, and France. He said whatever is produced in the three countries is “untrustworthy,” citing French HIV-contaminated blood supplies Iran received in the 1980s.

https://news.antiwar.com/2021/01/08/ayatollah-khamenei-says-iran-in-no-rush-to-see-us-rejoin-nuclear-deal/