Rouhani: US can lift Iran sanctions in one hour if there is will

President Hassan Rouhani has dismissed as “lies” the US’s claims that it needs a few months to lift the anti-Iran sanctions and return to compliance with the 2015 nuclear deal since those things can happen through “a single decree and in one hour.”

“The Americans lie when they say a return to their commitments and the lifting of the sanctions will take 2 to 3 months... It can be done with one decree and in one hour. All it needs is the will to do so, and if there is a serious resolve, the US can return to all its obligations in a single day, and we can also return to all our commitments,” he told a cabinet meeting in Tehran on Wednesday.

“Mere slogans and interviews will not work,” said Rouhani. “The Americans must act and do everything in their power” to facilitate the revival of the nuclear deal they abandoned in 2018 in defiance of international law.

President Rouhani said Tehran has been waiting for the removal of Washington’s sanctions since four months ago, when the Parliament adopted a law intending to counteract the unilateral sanctions imposed on Iran following withdrawal from the nuclear deal, officially named the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA).

The chief executive also noted that the previous administration under Donald Trump — which was the “most vicious” government in history — imposed inhumane sanctions against the Iranian nation, which did not even spare food.

Even though the new US administration under President Joe Biden appears to have a tendency to change its approach, it has so far failed to take any action toward that goal, Rouhani said.

“It has said things, but in practice, we have not seen anything happen. Sanctions and pressure are still in place,” he said.

“We have told them…if you accept that this person [Trump] was a terrorist, then you cannot continue down the same path for a second,” he said..

The future of the JCPOA has been in doubt since May 2018, when Trump unilaterally pulled the US out of the deal and imposed the “toughest ever” sanctions on Iran.

Despite throwing verbal support behind the JCPOA, the European parties to the deal — France, Britain and Germany — have succumbed to Washington’s pressure and failed to fulfill their contractual commitments to protect Tehran's economic interests.

That prompted Tehran to suspend some of its obligations as part of its legal rights stipulated in Article 36 of the JCPOA.

Biden has spoken of a willingness to return the US to the nuclear accord, but, in practice, his administration has so far been sticking with Trump’s futile “maximum pressure” campaign.

Tehran says Washington, as the first party that reneged on its commitments, should take the first step towards the JCPOA’s revival and unconditionally remove all the sanctions in a verifiable manner.

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