US President Joe Biden’s administration is considering waiving some of the toughest sanctions on Iran so that the country can return to the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), the Associated Press reported on April 28, citing former and current US officials.
The interlocutors of the agency did not specify exactly what restrictions were in question, but stressed that the US authorities are open to lifting sanctions related to terrorism, missile development, and human rights in Iran.
On April 21, The Wall Street Journal, citing sources, wrote that the White House, after the Vienna talks on a vigorous deal, expressed its readiness to ease sanctions pressure on the Iranian side in terms of basic economic elements such as the oil and industrial sectors.
On the same day, a senior State Department official said that the United States, during the Vienna talks, handed over to Iran a list of sanctions measures that the United States is ready to withdraw in order to return Tehran to the implementation of the agreements on the JCPOA.
Despite the progress of the Vienna talks, the head of the State Department’s press service, Ned Price, stressed that the participants have a long way to go to achieve their goals.
The JCPOA was signed in 2015 as part of resolving issues regarding the lifting of sanctions on Iran in exchange for restrictions on the country’s nuclear program. In May 2018, the US government decided to withdraw from the deal and tighten sanctions pressure towards Tehran, and in 2019 Iran announced a gradual reduction in its obligations under the agreement.