Secretary Antony Blinken promised on Saturday that there was no way the United States could give Russia guarantees about the sanctions imposed on Moscow not affecting their trade with Iran. He said Moscow’s demands were “irrelevant” and are “just are not in any way linked together.”
But on Tuesday, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov told the press, “We received written guarantees. They are included in the text of the agreement itself on the resumption of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action on the Iranian nuclear program.”
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Russia had been looking for sanctions relief for its ongoing work at Iran’s sole Bushehr nuclear energy plant.
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken has dismissed as “irrelevant” the Russian demands for guarantees, saying that they “just are not in any way linked together.”
But on Monday, Iran’s foreign ministry spokesman repeated Tehran’s position that the move had to come from the US.
“The remaining issues and points between us and the United States need political decisions in Washington,” Saeed Khatibzadeh said.
“If they (the US) announce that they have made a decision, then all the delegations can return to Vienna” to finalize a deal, he said, adding that for now “we are not at the point of announcing the agreement.”
Joe Biden is so desperate to ink the nuclear deal with Iran that he’s willing to create a huge hole in his own sanctions regime to accomplish it. This was after Secretary Blinken claimed that there was no linkage.
On Saturday, Britain, France and Germany warned against moves to “exploit” the JCPOA, seen as a tacit warning to Russia.
“Nobody should seek to exploit JCPOA negotiations to obtain assurances that are separate to the JCPOA,” the British, French and German foreign ministries said in a statement.
“This risks the collapse of the deal, depriving the Iranian people of sanctions lifting and the international community of the assurance needed on Iran’s nuclear program,” they added.
But that’s exactly what Biden did; he invited Russia to exploit the negotiations to obtain assurances that are separate from the deal.
Russia has made Iran a full partner in its sanctions-evasion schemes. Both nations should benefit handsomely as Biden stupidly lifts sanctions on Iran and refuses to enforce sanctions against Russia.
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