Iranian advisor explains why Tehran has no reason to trust US, Europe

An advisor to the Iranian negotiating team in Vienna says Tehran has no reason to trust the United States and Europe after the former viciously left the Iran deal to pursue a confrontational policy against the Islamic Republic and the latter went along with it.

Speaking with Press TV on Wednesday, Mohammad Marandi said the Americans and the Europeans violated the Iran deal from day one under former US president Barack Obama.

He said although it was Obama’s successor, Donald Trump, who officially withdrew the US from the deal and imposed the “maximum pressure” sanctions against Iran, the current administration of Joe Biden has continued with Trump’s policies despite its claim to oppose them.

Iran and the five remaining parties to the Iran deal, or the JCPOA, are engaged in the eighth round of negotiations in the Austrian capital to bring the US back into the deal by removing its sanctions, which are in grave violation of the agreement.

Trump left the deal on May 8, 2018, in the hope of pressing Iran into signing a “better deal.” However, his move backfired as it prompted the Islamic Republic to reduce its nuclear obligations and advance its nuclear program to a level far beyond the pre-JCPOA era.

Iran’s top security official, Ali Shamkhani, said earlier in the day that the US and Europe have failed the test of fulfilling their commitments under the JCPOA, turning the accord into an “empty shell” for Iran.

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Shamkhani added that Iran will not engage in any negotiations beyond the JCPOA with “oath-breaker America” and “idle Europe.”

Marandi, a Tehran University professor, said that Shamkhani was “stating the obvious” and that “there is nothing ambiguous or controversial” about his remarks.

“The United States and the Europeans violated the nuclear deal from day one, both under Obama and Trump, and as we all see, Biden is continuing with Trump’s policies,” he said.

Because they have shown themselves to be so unreliable in the past, he continued, there is no reason for Iran to trust them today.

According to Marandi, it is also obvious that Iran will not engage in talks with the US and Europe over issues beyond the country’s nuclear program.

He said they first have to prove themselves to be reliable partners if they want to have the opportunity to discuss other issues with Iran in the future.

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‘Europeans do whatever Washington tells them to do’

Elsewhere in his remarks, the Iranian professor pointed out that the Europeans do whatever the United States tells them to do, drawing examples from the eras of the Obama, Trump and Biden administrations.

He explained that when Obama warned financial institutions, insurance companies, shipping companies and major investment corporations not to deal with Iran, “that was a violation of the nuclear deal and the Europeans went along with it.”

“When Trump tore up the deal, the Europeans nagged about it, but they went along with it,” he said. “Under Biden, the Europeans continued to pursue Trumpian maximum pressure sanctions.”

“You have to keep in mind that as we speak, maximum pressure sanctions against women and children continue to be implemented both by the Europeans and the Americans. So under such circumstances, there is no reason for anyone in Iran to trust the Europeans or the Americans.”

“When the Europeans and the Americans are seen as unreliable partners within the JCPOA, then how can other issues that go beyond the nuclear program be discussed with these countries in the hope that an agreement would be respected by the Europeans and the Americans?” he asked.

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