US remains committed to preventing Iran from gaining nuclear weapon, says Biden

President Joe Biden on Tuesday, 21 September, said that the United States was committed to assuring that Iran would not gain a nuclear weapon, and reiterated his intention to return to the 2015 accord limiting Iran’s nuclear programme. In his first United Nations General Assembly speech, Biden pledged to rely on diplomacy in international affairs. He said that the US was “working” with China, France, Russia, Britain and Germany to engage Iran diplomatically and to seek a return to the Iran nuclear deal known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), which America left in 2018 under the previous Trump administration. 

Biden said, “The United States remains committed to preventing Iran from gaining a nuclear weapon. We are working with the P5+1 to engage Iran diplomatically and seek a return to the JCPOA. We’re prepared to return to full compliance if Iran does the same”. 

Former President Donald Trump had withdrawn the US from the pact in 2018 and called the structure of the deal “rotten”. However, Joe Biden has repeatedly stated his commitment to rejoining the Iran nuclear accord if the Islamic Republic reverses its violations of the agreement. The Biden administration has even entered talks with Iran to reach an agreement on how the two sides could restore the JCPOA, however, so far, the talks continue to be in limbo. 

Iran’s President slams US at UNGA 

Meanwhile, as Biden spoke at the UNGA, Iran’s official spokesman for the Iranian foreign ministry said that the talks on restoring the nuclear deal will resume in the coming weeks. Separately, Iran’s President Ebrahim Raisi, in a pre-recorded address, slammed the US at the UNGA. Raisi said that the US and the world no longer care about “America first: or “America’s back”. He also brought in regional issues, American support to Israel and stalled talks on the 2015 Nuclear deal. 

Raisi said that he was eager to resume the JCPOA, highlighting that nuclear weapons have “no place” in Iran’s defence and deterrence policy. He called for an end to the US sanctions and said that the Islamic Republic is keen on having large scale political-economic engagements with the world. “Nukes have no place in our defence doctrine and deterrence policy. Our country’s strategic policy is to consider the production and stockpiling of atomic weapons as forbidden,” Raisi said. 

“Sanctions are the US’ new way of war with the nations of the world,” he added. 

(Image: AP)