After an unconfirmed video of US President Joe Biden calling the JCPOA (the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action) “dead” was put online, the White House emphasized on Tuesday that reviving the Iran nuclear deal is not their focus right now.
Noting that they don’t anticipate any progress with respect to Iran anytime in the near future, the National Security Council Spokesman and Strategic Communications Coordinator John Kirby said that Washington simply doesn’t see a possible nuclear deal while Iran continues to kill its own citizens and sells armed UAVs to Russia.
Kirby added that, right now, they’re focusing on practical ways to confront Iran in those problematic areas.
According to the State Department spokesman Ned Price, the JCPOA has not been on the agenda for some time since the Iranians killed the opportunity for a swift return to mutual compliance with the JCPOA.
Price stressed that the Biden administration is committed to never allowing Tehran to be in possession of a nuclear weapon, adding that the best way to do that is via diplomacy and that Washington has not removed any option from the table.
According to a video that appears genuine and surfaced Tuesday, US President Joe Biden apparently said last month during his visit to California that the 2015 nuclear deal with Iran to limit its nuclear program was “dead,” but that he would not announce that publicly.
Biden’s comments – which the White House did not deny, and Kirby said nobody was questioning its authenticity- came as Tehran has not bowed to months of pressure to accept the final stipulations of the agreement to revive the JCPOA.
Biden has sought to revive the deal the Trump administration exited in 2018 – and reimposed crippling sanctions on Iran – through indirect talks mediated by the EU, but refused to lift the sanctions in advance of the revival of the deal.
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