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It is time for the U.S. to ease unilateral sanctions against Iran
By Wen Qing  ·  2021-04-19  ·   Source: NO.16 APRIL 22, 2021
A meeting of the Joint Commission of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, commonly known as the Iran nuclear deal, in Vienna, Austria, on April 6 (XINHUA)

The old riddle of the chicken or the egg has sparked many arguments over the course of time. Recent negotiations on the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), commonly known as the Iran nuclear deal, seemed to have gotten stuck in the similar reasoning: Will the U.S. lift its sanctions before Iran returns to compliance with the deal, or vice versa? Who should take the first step? In which way should the sanctions be lifted, step by step? Once and for all? These issues have become major hurdles in the JCPOA Joint Commission meetings in Vienna, Austria.

Senior diplomats from the EU, Britain, China, France, Germany, Russia and Iran met behind closed doors on April 6 and 9, negotiating on the U.S. rejoining the Iran nuclear deal, lifting sanctions and Iran's return to compliance with the deal. Nevertheless, the key stakeholders, namely the U.S. and Iran, communicated through European diplomatic shuttle diplomacy, as Iran refused to engage in direct talks with the U.S.

The JCPOA was reached in 2015 between Iran and the P5+1 (the five permanent members of the UN Security Council—the U.S., Britain, Russia, France and China, plus Germany) and the EU. Tehran agreed to roll back parts of its nuclear weapons program in exchange for decreased economic sanctions. The U.S. withdrew from the deal in 2018 and tightened sanctions on Iran under former President Donald Trump. In response, Iran partially suspended the implementation of its obligations under the deal.

Although the meetings in Vienna were described as "constructive" and related parties sent out positive signals, the future of the Iran nuclear deal still faces multiple uncertainties due to the lack of trust between Iran and the U.S., amongst other complicated factors at play. Experts believe that arriving at a consensus in the short run will prove difficult.

Tricky issues 

"All related parties, including the U.S., Iran and other stakeholders, showed their willingness to return to the Iran nuclear deal, but procedural issues and practical steps need to be negotiated, accumulating in a complicated process," Yin Gang, a research fellow with the Institute of West Asian and African Studies at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, said.

After the meeting on April 6, the gathering saw the formation of two expert groups. One was tasked to review the sanctions the U.S. imposed on Iran and the other to assess what measures Iran needs to take to return to full compliance with the accord.

Commendably, both the U.S. and Iran gave off hints of encouragement. U.S. State Department spokesperson Ned Price said on April 7 that the U.S. is ready to lift any sanctions imposed on Iran that are inconsistent with the nuclear agreement but did not elaborate on "what chapter and verse those might be." Iranian Government spokesperson Ali Rabiei told reporters that "We are not optimistic or pessimistic about the outcome of this meeting now, but we are confident that we are on the right track."

However, on the sanction-lifting part, the discrepancies did not narrow down. Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi insisted all sanctions imposed since January 2016, the date the agreement came into force, be lifted. Yet the U.S. countered the argument by stating several of the sanctions imposed by the Trump administration after it assumed office in January 2017 could be said to be non-nuclear related and so need not be revoked. The lines between nuclear and non-nuclear sanctions got blurred.

According to one anonymous senior U.S. State Department official, "If Iran sticks to the position that every sanction that has been imposed since 2017 has to be lifted or there will be no deal, then we are headed toward an impasse." There are 1,500 sanctions to be categorized, according to The Guardian.

Possible scenario 

The Joe Biden administration is facing pressure from the Republican Party at home as well as from Israel and some of its Arab allies not to make big concessions to Iran, Wang Jin, an associate professor at Northwestern University of China, told Beijing Review.

On April 11, a blackout occurred at Iran's underground Natanz atomic facility, an event described by Iran as "an act of nuclear terrorism." Iran subsequently pointed the finger at Israel.

Against this backdrop, the most likely scenario will see the U.S. gradually ease sanctions, such as allowing Iranian oil exports, followed by Iran's return to its JCPOA obligations, with both sides taking small steps forward, Yin said. It is impossible to solve this issue overnight, and the process is expected to be an exceptionally long one, he continued. 

It is worth noting that although the Biden administration differs from its predecessor in the approach toward the nuclear deal, their fundamental goals on the issue of Iran are similar, Wang Jin said.

Trump adopted a policy of maximum pressure to prevent Iran from developing nuclear capability and missile technology, consequently limiting Iran's regional influence. This tactic eventually led to a deadlock between both countries and Tehran abandoned all the limits of its uranium stockpile, by enriching it up to 20-percent purity, a technical step away from the weapon-grade levels of 90 percent. After taking office, Biden has repeatedly stated that he would seek to revive negotiations with Iran. He resorted to constrain Iran via multilateral mechanisms.

China-Iran cooperation 

As the old Chinese saying goes, it is better for the doer to undo what he has done. Since it was the U.S. who withdrew from the nuclear deal, a hard-won result of multilateral efforts, the time has now come for the Biden administration to return to the JCPOA unconditionally, according to Zhao Lijian, spokesperson for the Chinese Foreign Ministry, at a press conference on April 9.

"Regarding the unilateral sanctions imposed by the U.S., China and other parties concerned clearly expressed their concerns at the meeting; they must be lifted immediately," Wang Qun, Chinese envoy to the UN and Other International Organizations in Vienna, said on April 9 following a meeting with senior diplomats from other JCPOA signatories.

During his visit to Iran in March, Chinese State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi pointed out that the unilateral sanctions against Iran violate international law and cause harm to the Iranian people. He called on the U.S. to take concrete measures to ease unilateral sanctions against Iran and its long-arm jurisdiction over third parties. Iran, in turn, should resume fulfilling its nuclear commitments. 

Wang Yi and his Iranian counterpart Mohammad Javad Zarif signed an agreement on enhancing comprehensive cooperation between the countries, which the Chinese diplomat said will promote the continuous upgrading of their comprehensive strategic partnership established in January 2016. The new deal maps out efforts to expand economic and trade ties and people-to-people exchanges between China and Iran.

Experts say the signing of the agreement comes from both nations' need to pursue development based on the principle of mutual benefit and win-win results. "Iran needs this cooperation with China to break through the West's sanctions and enhance domestic infrastructure construction; China needs to import oil from Iran to ensure its energy security," Ding Long, a professor at the Middle East Studies Institute of Shanghai International Studies University, said. BR

Copyedited by Elsbeth van Paridon 

Comments to wenqing@bjreview.com 

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