BY BENJAMIN FEARNOW
Iranian leaders on Saturday announced they won't accept any "step-by-step" plan to lift U.S. sanctions put in place by the previous Trump administration, instead demanding an immediately removing all nuclear program restrictions.
"No step-by-step plan is being considered," Iranian foreign ministry spokesman Saeed Khatibzadeh told state broadcaster Press TV Saturday. "The definitive policy of the Islamic Republic of Iran is the lifting of all U.S. sanctions."
Iran said Saturday they want the U.S. to lift all sanctions against them just days ahead of a Vienna conference where many American lawmakers are pushing to revive a 2015 nuclear deal between Tehran and world powers. French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian urged Iran to be "constructive" in their potential nuclear program talks with the U.S., which prompted Iran to rebuke that Saturday and again call for an immediate end to the "illegal sanctions" put in place by former President Donald Trump's administration.
"In a telephone call with French FM @JY_LeDrian today I urged France to show a constructive stance on the JCPOA [Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action] in next week's meeting in Vienna. I called on France to honor its commitments under the accord, and to cease abiding by illegal sanctions imposed by the US," tweeted Iranian Foreign Minister Javad Zarif, in follow-up remarks Saturday afternoon.
In a telephone call with French FM @JY_LeDrian today I urged France to show a constructive stance on the JCPOA in next week's meeting in Vienna.
I called on France to honor its commitments under the accord, and to cease abiding by illegal sanctions imposed by the US.— Javad Zarif (@JZarif) April 3, 2021
Le Drian had reportedly spoken with his Iranian counterpart Friday and urged Tehran to be open-minded heading into this week's scheduled Vienna talks.
"They are meant to help identify in the coming weeks the steps that will be needed in order to return to full compliance with the nuclear deal," Le Drian said in a statement Saturday. "I encouraged Iran to be constructive in the discussions that are set to take place."
A bipartisan group of U.S. lawmakers who oppose any such nuclear deal with Iran, known as the JCPOA, sent a letter to U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken last March that criticized any "comprehensive" deal with Tehran. Israeli officials have expressed their solidarity with the JCPOA members who oppose the lifting of sanctions against the Iranians.
Blinken remarked last month that he supports moving Iran toward a deal that would put "Iran back into that nuclear box." But he said the Biden administration will rule out any possibility of concessions intended to bring Iran back to the negotiating table with Western powers.
House Republicans and some more hawkish Democrats grilled Blinken on March 10 about potential U.S. plans to revive the Obama administration's 2015 nuclear deal.
Blinken told House lawmakers: "Think of it this way: we have fundamental problems with Iran's actions across a whole series of things whether it is support for terrorism, whether it's a ballistic missile program that's increasingly dangerous, whether it's destabilizing actions throughout the region.
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