US will not negotiate Ukraine sanctions with Russia to save Iran

With one of President Biden’s top foreign-policy targets, the senior US official said Moscow had a week to withdraw its demand for a written guarantee exempting Russia from any sanctions relating to Ukraine, which Will disrupt Moscow’s future trade with Iran. Such a guarantee could ease the West’s punitive array of sanctions imposed on Russia over its invasion of Ukraine.

Referring to the 2015 nuclear deal, formally known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, the senior US official said, “I do not see room for going beyond the limits of the JCPOA.” “I think it’s pretty safe to say there’s no room for more leeway.”

Former President Donald Trump pulled out of the deal in 2018 and reimposed sweeping sanctions, saying the deal failed to block Iran’s path to nuclear weapons. In response, Iran expanded its nuclear work, breaking most of the limits of the agreement.

The official said a deal between Iran and the US was “within reach”, adding that only a deal was being reached on certain issues when talks broke down in Vienna on Friday because of Russia’s demand. The official called Russia’s demands “the most serious obstacle” and a hindrance to reaching a deal.

European officials say Russia has promised to respond to its exacting demands for guarantees in the next few days. The US official said that if Russia insists on its guarantee demands or does not respond “in the coming week”, Washington will “need to consider an alternative route very quickly”.

Earlier this month, as Western diplomats sought to end talks, Russia requested guarantees that its work under the JCPOA would be exempt from Western sanctions on Ukraine. The US waived sanctions for the 2015 deal.

Although Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov told reporters that Moscow wants more comprehensive guarantees, its chief negotiator in Vienna, Mikhail Ulyanov, presented a second letter to European negotiators on Tuesday, calling for all future trade and investments against Ukraine-related sanctions. was sought to be protected.

It could not be determined whether Iran would be willing to negotiate an alternative deal without Russia, or whether China – which has grown closer to Russia – would participate. European officials also said on Friday that they would be ready to explore an alternative deal with Iran without Russia.

Ulyanov said on Friday that his country’s demands were not the only reason no agreement has been reached on reviving the nuclear deal. Since the talks had not ended, it was his country’s right to raise its concerns, he said.

Time is pressing. US and European officials say Iran’s nuclear work has expanded to such an extent that for the West the deal’s main advantage – keeping Iran months away from amassing enough nuclear fuel for a nuclear weapon – would be impossible. Iran is currently just weeks away from that so-called breakout point.

The US is also looking for new oil supplies during the war in Ukraine, as it seeks to control rising energy prices. If sanctions are lifted, Iran could supply one million barrels of new crude a day.

One option for the US and its allies would be to work out an interim agreement that would stop some of Iran’s activities and withdraw aspects of its nuclear program, in return for some relief from US sanctions. rejected the idea. deal.

Another option would be what the senior US official called a “replica of the JCPOA,” without Russia delegating Moscow’s functions elsewhere in the agreement.

“I think we will be open to different options. We are starting to think about what they could be,” the official said. “We … would not rule out anything at this point.”

Further complicating any attempt to renegotiate a deal with Iran: Tehran has forbidden its negotiators from speaking directly to the US until Washington lifts its sanctions. Regional tensions are rising again with Iran after a missile attack early Sunday that US officials say originated from Iran and landed near a US consulate under construction in northern Iraq.

Any new deal would also trigger US legislation to give Congress time to thoroughly review the deal.

The talks in Vienna, which have lasted nearly a year, are aimed at agreeing on steps to be taken by the US and Iran in compliance with the nuclear deal. If Russia’s demands can be resolved, negotiators have said they could return to Vienna within a few days to conclude talks.

Iran has refrained from calling Russia and continues to blame Washington’s failure to complete talks. However, there have been signs of irritation from Iranian officials, who have said they will not let external factors stand in the way of their interests.

The senior US official declined to say whether a deal would have been reached by now without Russian interference. Western diplomats say that among the issues still on the table is whether Iran’s Revolutionary Guards will remove its list of foreign terrorist organizations and what the conditions may be around it.