
In the midst of escalating geopolitical tensions and escalating turmoil in the Middle East, Iran has made a plea for revitalizing a global nuclear accord through new discussions.
Western sanctions have been in place since Washington withdrew from the 2015 Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) in 2018. In a statement issued by Amir Saied Iravani, Iran’s representative, the Iranian government criticized recent remarks made by the US and European nations that have voiced concern over Tehran’s decision to intensify nuclear activities.
The United States, the United Kingdom, Germany, France, and Russia were all signatories to the historic JCPOA, which lifted international sanctions on Iran in return for significant limits on the country’s nuclear program. However, according to Iravani, the US has willfully ignored the fact that the present mess started with the US’s unilateral and illegal exit from the pact. The agreement collapsed a year after Trump reimposed economic sanctions on Iran; Iran began to reduce its nuclear commitments at that time.
When the Biden administration took power in the United States in 2021, it went back to the bargaining table to try to have the deal fully implemented again. The discussions broke down at the end of 2022, and ever since then, Iran has maintained its withdrawal from the agreement, claiming that the Western signatories’ failure to fulfill their JCPOA obligations justified the sanctions.
The escalating tensions in the Middle East, particularly after last October’s conflict broke out between Israel and the Palestinian Hamas organization in the Gaza Strip, have further strained relations between Washington and Tehran. In addition to supporting armed Palestinian groups like Hamas, Iran has also been an essential backer of the “Axis of Resistance” informal coalition of militias from Syria, Iraq, Lebanon, and Yemen.
Worries of a broader regional battle have been heightened by the intensifying skirmishes between the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) and the Lebanese Hezbollah organization. This is in addition to the recent threats exchanged between Iranian and Israeli authorities.
Several Iranian officials and specialists started talking publicly about possible revisions to Iran’s nuclear doctrine in April, during the first-ever direct sequence of assaults between the two countries, which further heightened fears from the White House.
The United States and nineteen other nations on the International Atomic Energy Agency’s board of governors issued a formal reprimand against Iran earlier this month. Iranian authorities condemned the action, calling it “hasty,” “unwise,” and “detrimental” to diplomacy and collaboration.