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TEHRAN (Iran News) – First Vice-President Eshaq Jahangiri said that the US seeking to return to JCPOA. Giving a summary of the two terms of President Hassan Rouhani, Jahangiri said in an exclusive interview with IRNA carried out on Saturday that the Rouhani administration had three priorities: solving foreign policy issues, addressing domestic concerns, and tackling economic problems.

He noted that the early years of implementation of the JCPOA could see billions of dollars in foreign investments in Iran as some countries like China offered tremendous investments, but it was hindered by political rivals in the country.

Iran and six world powers signed the JCPOA in 2015, easing international sanctions on Tehran in return for limitations on its nuclear program; however, the US withdrew from the deal in 2018, restoring all its unilateral sanctions as part a so-called ‘maximum pressure’ campaign to allegedly compel Iran into a wider deal.

Jahangiri, however, said in the interview that US sanctions were aimed at overthrowing the Islamic Republic through widespread riots supposed to be triggered by unprecedented economic pressure, described by the official as ‘economic war’.

He underlined that President Rouhani played a pivotal role in maintaining the deal despite US violation, changing the administration’s focus on basic goods lest sanctions didn’t impact the livelihood of Iranians.

Underlining that Iran’s economy will return to the main course once international issues are solved, he said that the new administration in the United States was seeking to find a way to return to the JCPOA.

Nevertheless, First Vice President stated, the Rouhani administration made great efforts to devise innovative methods to circumvent sanctions through complicated paths.

“Opponents of the government have created an atmosphere to make people pessimistic about reforms without thinking that fuelling this dissent could upset the whole system,” Jahangiri remarked.

“No one is against attracting foreign investment. Neither are the Guards, in my view. Attracting foreign investment is part of the general policies the Supreme Leader has approved of,” he said.

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“Diplomacy with Iran is ongoing, just not in a direct fashion at the moment,” he told reporters.

“There are communications through the Europeans and through others that enable us to explain to the Iranians what our position is with respect to the compliance for compliance approach and to hear what their position is,” Sullivan added.

The new administration of U.S. President Joe Biden has rejected giving Tehran unilateral incentives to begin talks but has held out the possibility of both sides taking reciprocal steps to resume implementing the deal, an approach Washington calls “compliance for compliance.”

“We are waiting at this point to hear further from the Iranians how they would like to proceed,” Sullivan said. “This is not going to be easy but we believe that we are in a diplomatic process now that we can move forward on and ultimately secure our objective, which is to prevent Iran from getting a nuclear weapon and to do so through diplomacy.”

The United States on Feb. 18 said it was ready to talk to Iran about both nations resuming compliance with the pact that aimed to prevent Tehran from acquiring nuclear weapons, seeking to revive a deal that Washington itself abandoned in 2018.

Iran began violating the deal in 2019, about a year after former U.S. President Donald Trump withdrew from it and reimposed economic sanctions. Tehran has accelerated its breaches in recent months.

Each side has insisted the other go first in returning to the deal, with Tehran demanding Washington remove its economic sanctions and the United States demanding that Iran reinstate limitations on its nuclear program.

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He said that the JCPOA was a turning point in the history of Iran’s peace-seeking and prudence, where the county managed to put an end to arbitrary sanctions while it preserved all the peaceful nuclear achievements, pride, dignity, and territorial integrity.

He noted that Iran has now the upper hand both morally and legally after the US withdrawal from the deal and can defend the rights of the Iranian nation with reliance on the UNSC Resolution 2231 which removed all the international sanctions against Iran.

In the light of the efforts made by the Iranian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the IAEA Board of Governors decided to drop drafting an anti-Iran resolution in its recent meeting, the spokesman said.

Rabiei said that he was sure that the JCPOA will be revived in the near future as it is the only way which ensures peace in the world and benefit the interests of all the countries.

In reference to an endorsement of the JCPOA by the UNSC Resolution 2231, he said that the JCPOA is an internationally approved law and the US will have no way but to abide by the law.

“In the last four years, we kept the path of diplomacy open, not them, and today the US should take the first step in diplomacy, not us.”

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The day the Supreme Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyed Ali Khamenei, in explaining the stand of the Islamic Republic of Iran, set the removal of all sanctions and its verification as the conditions of the Islamic Republic of Iran for return to the JCPOA, perhaps nobody could believe that first the post-Trump U.S. and then all the world would have to accept this right-seeking process but today resistance of the Islamic Republic of Iran establishment has borne fruit and it is on the verge of implementation of the JCPOA and bowing down of the opposite sides in the deal.

As per news and reports, thirty-two progressive organizations in the U.S. in a letter to U.S. President Joe Biden have urged him to swiftly fulfill his election campaign promises and join a 2015 Iran nuclear agreement (JCPOA) that was abandoned by the Trump administration. In the letter, the organizations addressing Biden have said that return to the JCPOA has been one of the most explicit and important promises him during his election campaign. They went on to say, “You have stipulated in your promises that you are ready to distance the U.S. foreign policy from Donald Trump’s reckless, unilateralism and war-seeking policy.” They have called the policy of maximum pressure as a dangerous failure, reiterating that this policy not only has escalated tensions in the Middle East but also has actually helped Iran to get closer to have nuclear weapon capability.”

These 32 progressive organizations in the letter have noted that the longer the elements of ‘maximum pressure’ remain in effect, the more it will continue to embolden hardliners in Iran and make U.S.-Iran diplomacy more difficult. They have said, “The recent escalation in military activity between the United States and reported Iranian proxies in Syria and Iraq (pointing to recent attack at Ain al Asad Base in Iraq) only shows how urgently needed a new course of action is.”

In the letter, they have also emphasized different international developments like the new approach of Europe to the JCPOA, the U.S. acceptance of from Europe to join talks on the future of the deal, the acknowledgment that Trump failed attempts in the UNSC for approving the anti-Iran resolutions. They have also rejected this approach that Iran should take the first steps to meet its JCPOA obligations before the United States takes its own steps, claiming that the fact of the matter is that the United States was the first to violate the deal and it is, therefore, reasonable to expect the United States to at the very least take concurrent steps with Iran to rejoin it.”

It seems that preparing the scene for publishing this letter and emphasis of experts and summed up viewpoints by Europe would be the ground for heroic flexibility by the U.S and it seems in the first step Biden to issue a statement in the White House that the U.S. would return to the JCPOA without any precondition.

However, undoubtedly the Islamic Republic of Iran would welcome this step but we should consider this point that backtracks from the unacceptable actions of Trump is considered as the first step in the backtrack in the policy of Europe and the U.S. that it should be considered as a ground for taking serious steps towards removing all sanctions.

The Supreme Leader’s emphasis in Iran on the six-month timetable for verification and making sure of no practical hurdles on the route of Iran’s free trade-in using the SWIFT, purchase, and sales, and banking transactions is not an issue to be ended with just a statement by the White House.

So the Islamic Republic of Iran reacting to the continuity of Western states’ actions will emphasize this point that returns to the JCPOA is a prelude to the objective materialization of the paragraphs of the JCPOA in practical and executive elimination of sanctions.

Experience shows us that the U.S. and Europe in a close alignment will try to magnify the White House statement and without removing sanctions they will ask Iran to take the next step and to make a media hype that it is now Iran’s turn. However, this point should be emphasized that the U.S. pullout from the JCPOA  in the past two years has inflicted heavy damages on the Islamic Republic of Iran, and due to the created distrust climate, if the U.S. return to the JCPOA is not accompanied by the removal of sanctions and at the same time removal of the sanctions is not verified – that unfortunately even with double-standards in the world trade and even the time when the U.S. was a signatory of the JCPOA in Barrack Obama –  Iran has not enjoyed any advantage of the deal according to the political and economic officials with taking behind-the-scene measures.

So it is necessary to be emphasized that the U.S. return to the JCPOA will do Iran any good, and the practical removal of sanctions and its verification for a logical period in its implementation will be important.

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The United Nations Security Council, Resolution 2231 (2015) urges full implementation of the JCPOA in line with the timetable set by the JCPOA Annex V and sets forth steps for the eventual removal of Security Council sanctions on Iran.

New US President Joe Biden who took office on January 20 has already repeated that he is willing to return to the JCPOA from which the former US President Donald Trump withdrew unilaterally in May 2018; meanwhile, no changes have been seen in the US policy on the deal yet, Takht Ravanchi noted.

In the early days of February, Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif advised the US to learn from the Trump administration’s complete failure rather than show interest and warned that the existing window is closing quickly.

It is up to the new US administration whether they want to follow Trump’s policy or to open a new chapter, the ambassador noted.

He said that in Iran’s opinion, the implementation of commitments by the US needs no new talks.

The United States should decide to fulfill commitments based on Resolution 2231, Takht Ravanchi underlined.

Asked whether relieving sanctions would be meant as part of the return to the deal, the ambassador replied that lifting “sanctions” has been part of the deal and they had to be lifted.

Asked whether Iran’s remedial measures vis-a-vis the US non-compliance will lead to escalation, Takht Ravanchi said “We’re not interested in escalation.”

To respond reciprocally to the US move, Iran decided to reduce its commitments to the international deal, based on Articles 26 and 36, on the first anniversary of the US withdrawal in May 2019.

All provocative measures including the assassination of dear General Qassem Soleimani have been taken by the United States, the ambassador said, reaffirming Iran’s unwillingness to take such measures.

About the recent visit of Director-General of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Rafael Grossi to Tehran, the ambassador said IAEA inspectors are present in Iran and are doing their duties.

He further termed the February 21 IAEA agreement with the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran as excellent.

According to the February 21 Joint Statement, Iran gave a three-month moratorium to the Majlis Law suspending voluntary acceptance of IAEA Additional Protocol so that activities of the nuclear sites will be monitored in tapes for three months and will be delivered to the UN nuclear agency if the US lifted the sanctions during the moratorium. Otherwise, the tapes will not be delivered.

Meanwhile, Iran will respect the IAEA Safeguards Agreement.

“Islamic Republic of Iran has always lived up to its promise[s].”

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Washington filed a lawsuit earlier this month to seize the cargo, alleging that Iran sought to mask the origin of the oil by transferring it to several vessels before it ended up aboard the Liberian-flagged Achilleas tanker destined for China.

Washington said the cargo contravened U.S. terrorism regulations.

“This shipment does not belong to the Iranian government. It belongs to the private sector,” Foreign Ministry spokesman Saeed Khatibzadeh told a weekly news conference.

He did not elaborate on what he meant by the private sector.

The Achilleas last reported its position on Sunday as anchored within the Galveston Offshore Lightering Area, which is outside the U.S. Gulf port of Galveston, Refinitiv ship tracking data showed on Monday.

A U.S. official said last week that Washington had sold more than a million barrels of Iranian fuel seized under its sanctions program last year.

Tensions have mounted between Washington and Tehran since 2018 when former U.S. President Donald Trump abandoned Iran’s 2015 nuclear deal with six major powers and reimposed sanctions on the country.

U.S. President Joe Biden has pledged to revive the nuclear deal if Tehran returns to full compliance with the accord.

“It is very unfortunate that such an act of piracy is happening under the new U.S. administration, a solution should be found to stop such acts of piracy by anyone for any reason,” the spokesman Khatibzadeh added.

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Elogim started its initial activity for the first time in Iran as a provider of in-app purchases and now, by creating a suitable and reliable platform, in addition to providing in-app purchases, it offers other services such as sales Gift cards and sales of game consoles, registering ads for buying and selling accounts and game equipment, and producing game and entertainment content and everything needed in games and entertainment. Also, in Mojojem, we have provided a platform where you can earn from your game and entertainment and the amount of energy you spend on it.

By understanding the conditions in the field of management and being aware of the need to move in the direction of increasing the quality of service, customer and beneficiary satisfaction and continuous improvement, with the cooperation of employees and based on legal requirements and management standards, Alo Game tries to achieve the following goals:

1- Spreading the right culture of play and entertainment

2- Continuous effort to increase customer satisfaction

3- Increasing the job satisfaction of the organization’s personnel and forces

4- Business development and increasing credibility and brand

5- Helping the audience earn money from games and entertainment

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Such a modest approach could slow the deterioration in relations since former U.S. President Donald Trump abandoned the deal in 2018 and freeze Iran’s subsequent violations, which have brought it closer to enriching weapons-grade uranium.

This option could entail Washington allowing Tehran to get economic benefits less valuable than the sanctions relief it received under the 2015 deal in return for Iran stopping, or perhaps reversing, its own breaches of the agreement.

The sources stressed U.S. President Joe Biden has yet to decide his policy. His stated position remains that Iran resumes full compliance with the pact before the United States will.

“(They) are having a real think,” said one source familiar with the U.S. review, saying ideas under consideration include a straight return to the 2015 nuclear deal and what he called “less for less” as an interim step.

Another source said if the Biden administration concluded it would take too long to negotiate a full return to the deal, it could adopt a more modest approach.

“Should (they) at least try to give Iran some sanctions relief and get Iran to agree to pause and maybe roll back some of its nuclear (steps)?” said this source.

The deal between Iran and six major powers limited Iran’s uranium enrichment activity to make it harder for Tehran to develop nuclear arms – an ambition Iran has long denied having – in return for the easing of the U.S. and other sanctions.

When Trump left the deal in 2018, faulting it for failing to curb Tehran’s ballistic missile program and backing for regional proxies, he reimposed crippling sanctions on Iran’s economy.

In response, Tehran has breached the deal’s key limits, enriching uranium to 20% – above a 3.67% cap but below the 90% needed for weapons – expanding its stockpile of low-enriched uranium and using advanced centrifuges for enrichment.

A central problem in reviving the deal is who goes first. Iran has insisted the United States ease sanctions before it resumes compliance; Washington wants the reverse.

In what may be posturing by both sides, Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei on Sunday said Tehran’s “final and irreversible” decision was to return to compliance only if Washington lifts sanctions, while Biden said he would not lift sanctions just to get Iran back to the table.

Republicans are likely to criticize the Democrat Biden if he offers Iran any sanctions relief without their full return to the agreement, arguing this would squander leverage that Trump built up with the scores of sanctions imposed since 2018.

“The Biden admin has to recognize the realities of 2021, not 2015. That means no upfront sanctions relief for a regime that’s only expanded its dangerous behavior,” Trump’s former U.N. ambassador Nikki Haley wrote on Twitter on Sunday.

Washington could find other ways to ease Iran’s economic pain, smoothing the way for the International Monetary Fund to lend to Tehran, making it easier for humanitarian goods to get through, or embracing a European idea for a credit facility.

A Western diplomat said an IMF loan “definitely could be in play” and described the possibility of a European credit facility for Iran, which would require the tacit acceptance of the United States, as “sensible and feasible.”

The White House declined to comment beyond spokeswoman Jen Psaki’s statement that if Tehran resumed compliance, Washington would do so and that “the ball’s in Iran’s court.”

A State Department spokeswoman, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the Biden administration was still consulting Congress as well as allies and partners.

“We are exploring a range of ideas consistent with our stated policy of being willing to return into compliance with the deal if Iran is,” she said, without elaborating.

It was unclear how soon the Biden administration may settle on its approach.

One deadline is Feb. 21, when an Iranian law obliges Tehran to end the sweeping inspection powers given to the U.N. nuclear watchdog by the 2015 deal and limiting inspections to declared nuclear sites only.

Three European diplomats said even the window for an interim solution could close rapidly before Iran’s June presidential election, which anti-U.S. security hawks are expected to win.

“It’s an urgent situation. If we can’t take advantage of the window now, it’s very hard to think that we will be able to engage in substantial negotiations before the autumn,” said one. “The current (nuclear) trajectory could close a lot of doors.”

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The eight national teams plus four slots reserved for the national teams clinching a spot in the Men’s Tournament through the FIBA Olympic Qualifying Tournaments were split into the three preliminary groups of four teams each.

The four remaining tickets will be punched in through the four Olympic Qualifying groups planned to be held from June 29 to July 4.

In both tournaments, a new competition system has been put in place for Tokyo. The Group Phase will consist of three groups of four teams each. The teams placed first and second in each group, and the two best third-placed teams in the Group Phase qualify for the Final Phase.

Twenty-four top teams from across the globe, 12 men and 12 women, will go for gold at the Olympics, starting July 25 in Tokyo.

Men’s Tournament draw results:

Group A

Iran
France
USA
OQT Victoria winner (Canada, China, Czech Republic, Greece, Turkey, Uruguay)

Group B

Australia
OQT Split winner (Brazil, Croatia, Germany, Mexico, Russia, Tunisia)
OQT Belgrade winner (Dominican Republic, Italy, New Zealand, Puerto Rico, Senegal, Serbia)
Nigeria

Group C

Argentina
Japan
Spain
OQT Kaunas winner (Angola, Korea, Lithuania, Poland, Slovenia, Venezuela)

Previously,  Iran national basketball team defeated Saudi Arabia 71-64 at Window 2 of FIBA Asia Cup 2021 Qualifiers on Saturday. After successfully holding the games of the Qualifiers in bubbles in November, the third and last window will also be organized as protected environment tournaments in order to ensure the health and safety of all participants.

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