Breaking nuclear agreement with Iran – big mistake, Blinken says

BAKU, Azerbaijan, January 17. It was a big
mistake to tear up the nuclear agreement with Iran, US State
Secretary Antony Blinken said, as he addressed the World Economic
Forum in Davos, Trend reports.

“We had Iran’s nuclear program in a box. And now, we are in a
place, where we do not have it. That is deeply unfortunate,” he
noted.

Iran’s nuclear program was the subject of the JCPOA, a deal
signed by Iran and the P5+1 group (US, Russia, China, UK, France,
and Germany) on January 16, 2016. However, on May 8, 2018, the US
withdrew from the JCPOA and imposed new sanctions on Iran as of
November 2018, affecting its oil exports and freezing its assets
abroad. More than 700 banks, companies, and individuals were also
targeted by the sanctions.

In late 2020, the Iranian parliament decided to implement a
strategic plan to tackle the sanctions, citing the
non-implementation of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action
(JCPOA) signed between Iran and six countries and the imposition of
sanctions on Iran.

According to the decision of the Iranian parliament, as of
February 23, Iran suspended the implementation of additional steps
and an additional protocol provided for in the nuclear deal. As a
result, the control mechanism of the IAEA decreased by 20–30
percent.