Iran to stop 20% enrichment only if US bans lifted

"20-percent uranium enrichment is in line with Paragraph 36 of the JCPOA and will be stopped only if the US lifts all the sanctions," a senior Iranian official told state-run Iranian Press TV on Monday.

The Iranian official said the country will not stop any of its current nuclear activities before the removal of all sanctions. 

"The Biden administration is losing time, and if it fails to lift the sanctions soon, Iran will take the next steps, which will be a further reduction of its JCPOA commitments," the official added. 

The Iranian official made the remarks in reaction to a report by Politico which claimed the US is to end the deadlock over the 2015 nuclear deal with a new proposal.

Biden administration officials, mindful of the increasingly unfavorable calendar, plan to put forth a new proposal to jump-start the talks as soon as this week, two people familiar with the situation told Politico.

In reaction to the report, the Permanent Mission of the Islamic Republic to the United Nations reiterated that no proposal is needed for the US to rejoin the JCPOA. “It only requires a political decision…”

KI/PR