US Secretary of State Antony Blinken made a low-key visit to
Saudi Arabia earlier this week, which coincided with the reopening
of Iranian diplomatic missions in the Arab kingdom after seven
years.
The whirlwind visit primarily focused on rebuilding ties between
Washington and Riyadh but also involved other issues including the
Joe Biden administrations aggressive but unsuccessful push to
mediate Riyadh-Tel Aviv normalization.
During the visit, the top American diplomat sat down for an
interview with Arabic-language Asharq News, fielding
questions on a range of subjects from Irans nuclear program to the
Ukraine war.
Blinkens responses were riddled with glaring inconsistencies and
false assertions, in particular regarding efforts to revive the
Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), commonly known as the
Iran nuclear deal.
On being asked whether the US was trying to revive the
negotiations over the 2015 nuclear accord, the US Secretary of
State said from day one the US made a significant effort in that
direction.
So we, from day one, sought to determine whether a return to
mutual compliance with the JCPOA was possible, and we made a
significant effort in that direction, as did the European partners,
and, for that matter, Russia and China, Blinken said in the
interview.
But Iran either couldnt or wouldnt do what was necessary to get
back into compliance with the JCPOA. So the JCPOA is not our focus,
he hastened to add.
A simple fact-check is in order to set the record straight.
It was the US government, under the megalomaniac former
President Donald Trump, which unilaterally abandoned the landmark
nuclear agreement in May 2018, and reinstated an array of sanctions
on Iran.
The move was in complete breach of the agreement and Washingtons
legal obligations under Resolution 2231, the United Nations Charter
and international law.
Iran adopted strategic patience for one year, waiting for
European signatories to salvage the deal, and only then announced
retaliatory measures, which included gradually scaling up uranium
enrichment in line with a law passed by the Iranian parliament.
Trumps successor, Joe Biden, pledged to reverse the so-called
maximum pressure campaign against Iran that violated the
multilateral deal and laid bare the infamous American
hypocrisy.
However, more than two years into office, Biden has not only
failed to reverse his predecessors hard-nosed measures but has
doubled down and escalated the situation.
Since April 2021, Iran and the remaining parties to the 2015
nuclear deal have been engaged in marathon negotiations in Vienna
to reviv...