Reviving the nuclear deal - formally known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) - looked close in August following a proposed European Union “final” text. However, Iran’s violent crackdown on the protests that engulfed the country following the death of Zhina (Mahsa) Amini while in police custody in September led to a barrage of condemnations and sanctions from the international community, also putting on pause the talks aimed at restoring the deal.
“The Iranians killed the opportunity for a swift return to mutual compliance with the JCPOA. They most recently did so in September when they turned their backs on a deal that was by all accounts essentially finalized, ready to go,” Ned Price said during a press briefing on Tuesday.
Price said that the JCPOA has not been on Washington’s agenda since then, stressing that the main focus since September has been supporting the Iranian people’s right to hold protests, and countering the proliferation of Iranian drone technology which has been used by Russia in its strikes on Ukraine.
“It is our role and responsibility to support their freedom of expression, their freedom of assembly, every single other universal right and freedom that belongs to the Iranian people.”
Ukraine has blamed Iran for prolonging the war and destabilizing peace in the country by supplying drones to Russia. Iran in November admitted to sending drones to Russia but claimed that the supply took place before the Russia-Ukraine war.
Ukraine said it destroyed seven Iranian-made drones in the Mykolaiv region on Monday.
Price said that the administration of US President Joe Biden remains committed to preventing Iran from ever acquiring a nuclear weapon, but emphasized that Washington has not been engaged in talks with Tehran to revive the JCPOA.
“Nothing we have heard suggests that Iran has changed... Claims that we are presently engaged in talks to revive the JCPOA – that’s just false.”
The JCPOA was signed between Britain, France, China, Germany, Russia, Iran, and the US in 2015, offering Tehran sanctions relief in exchange for curbs on its nuclear program to ensure it does not enrich enough uranium to develop a nuclear weapon.
Former US president Donald Trump abandoned the nuclear deal in 2018, believing it was too lenient on Iran.
Sporadic talks, mediated by the European Union, have been held between Iran and the US to restore the JCPOA since April 2021.
