The comment was made by the US State Department on Wednesday a day after Supreme Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei said that there was no harm in engaging with “the enemy” while he warned that the enemy should not be trusted.
“We will judge Iran’s leadership by their actions, not their words”, the State Department told The Associated Press.
“We have long said that we ultimately view diplomacy as the best way to achieve an effective, sustainable solution with regard to Iran’s nuclear program,” the department said, claiming that the US is “far away from anything like that right now” given what it called Iran’s escalations including its “nuclear escalations” and its failure to cooperate with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).
The department claimed further in its comments that if Iran wants to demonstrate “seriousness or a new approach”, they should stop “nuclear escalations” and start “meaningfully” cooperating with the IAEA.
The latest comments come as Iran has time and again said that it is open to continue its constructive cooperation with the UN nuclear agency, and warned the IAEA to avoid being politicized in its engagement with Iran.
The Islamic Republic is also critical of the US over what it sees as double standards and excessive demands regarding the Iranian nuclear program which remains solely for peaceful purposes, as a religious verdict by Ayatollah Khamenei prohibits the production and use of nuclear weapons.
Iran and world powers clinched a deal on its nuclear program in 2015, which is called the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action or the JCPOA.
The deal called on Iran to restrict its nuclear program in return for sanctions relief.
The agreement however was thrown into disarray in May 2018 when the US unilaterally withdrew from it and reinstated sanctions on Iran. Talks to revive the JCPOA began in April 2021, but they were stalled over what Tehran described as excessive demands by the West, particularly the US.
4194
Your Comment