American official: In the next day or two, we will get a better understanding of the Vienna talks

According to IRNA, Barbara Leaf, the US Assistant Secretary of State for Near East Affairs, stated this at the US Senate hearing on China’s growing role in West Asia and explained the positions of the Joe Biden government on the subject of the meeting.

John Kirby, the strategic communications coordinator of the White House’s National Security Council, once again resorted to Washington’s artificial deadlines tactic and claimed that the time to reach an agreement is running out at the same time as the new round of sanctions lifting negotiations in Vienna, Austria.

Negotiations on the lifting of sanctions against Iran resumed on Thursday, August 13, in Vienna, Austria, after a nearly five-month break. It has not given its goodwill, but has moved in line with the failed maximum pressure policy of the Donald Trump administration.

The statements of American officials, who are the cause of the current situation, while instead of overcoming internal problems and making political decisions, in a blame game since the beginning of these negotiations, they have taken various scenarios to make Iran guilty; From the tactic of artificial deadlines to the new tactic of claiming that their expectations are low and limited.

China has been relatively constructive in the 5+1 group

In this US Senate meeting, US Senator Ted Young asked the US Assistant Secretary of State: What is China’s role in the negotiations to return to the JCPOA? Will China’s relations with Iran be an obstacle for the Biden administration to reach a longer and stronger agreement?

Barbara Leaf, Assistant Secretary of State for Near East Affairs, replied: China has clearly stated that it wants Iran and the United States to return to the JCPOA, or at least to come to the negotiating table about the JCPOA.

He claimed that what worries me is China’s lack of action in putting pressure on Iran in areas where there is evidence of Tehran’s provision of weapons, necessary resources, etc. to its dependent forces in the region, which are extremely destructive.

He added: But in the area of ​​the 5+1 group, the Chinese have been relatively productive.

America’s fear of China-US cooperation

The American senator continued that China and Iran recently announced a 25-year cooperation agreement, which is designed to deepen the strategic relations between the two countries. What is the status of this memorandum? Do we think the increased cooperation between China and Iran is a growing threat to American soldiers or American allies in the Middle East?

The official of the US Foreign Ministry claimed in response: I think many elements of this memorandum cannot be implemented due to the restrictions of sanctions. But this memorandum certainly places Iran among the five countries that are key to China’s influence in the region.

He claimed: Currently, this memorandum does not pose any direct threat to American forces, but this cooperation is definitely not good for the region.

Bill Haggerty, another American senator, asked the Assistant Secretary of State for Near East Affairs at this meeting of the US Senate Foreign Relations Committee whether the Iran-China long-term cooperation memorandum is considered a threat to the US or the country’s national security interests, to which Leaf replied: Certainly not a pleasant event.

Acknowledging the goals of Biden’s trip to the region

In continuation of the policies of fearing Iran’s regional influence, as well as America’s competitors, especially China, the US Assistant Secretary of State claimed: Iran is isolated, not only because of US sanctions, but also because of its destructive actions and behavior in the region. Therefore, Iranian authorities have long been of the opinion that by turning to the east, they can avoid problems, so this is the logic behind Iran’s relations with China.

He claimed: This cooperation is worrisome and America should encourage defense and security cooperation with all neighboring countries of Iran in the Persian Gulf and beyond to deal with it.

This official of the US Foreign Ministry admitted: This was the purpose of the US President’s visit to Israel and to meet with the countries of the Persian Gulf, in addition to Iraq and Egypt.

Insisting on the continuation of the madness of sanctions and pressure

Democrat Senator Chris Murphy also asked the US Assistant Secretary of State about the status of the JCPOA negotiations in Vienna, to which he replied: As you know, the US special representative for Iran affairs, Robert Malley, has gone to Vienna. He has appeared in Vienna at the invitation of Josep Burrell.

The US Assistant Secretary of State continued: Burrell’s proposed package is mainly a proposal that was proposed in March, so Rob Mali is waiting for Iran’s proposal in this regard.

He added: “We are still at the same point as we were in the past few months and we are not interested in discussing issues outside the JCPOA.” So we will get a better understanding of the negotiations in the next day or two.

In another part of his remarks, Senator Yang asked Leaf about the latest state of oil relations between Iran and China, to which the US assistant secretary of state, whose country is obsessed with imposing sanctions and pressure on countries that are not aligned with Washington’s policies, replied: “On this issue, we Recently, we imposed the third set of sanctions against several companies that transport these Iranian products.

This member of the Biden government, while most American politicians agree that the policy of maximum pressure against Iran has failed, he admitted: We had imposed similar sanctions in the months of August and July. You will witness the increasing trend of sanctions in this field.

US Assistant Secretary of State Barbara Leaf said about Washington’s measures to prevent Iran from evading sanctions: the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Ministry of Treasury and the Office of Foreign Assets Control are working on this matter. Much work is being done to clarify the plan and action against the targets.

The Biden government, which claims a diplomatic approach towards Iran and an effort to return to the JCPOA, has so far not taken a step to show its goodwill, but has moved in line with the failed maximum pressure policy of the Donald Trump administration.

American and Western officials and media continue to play the blame game and insist on showing Iran as the cause of the delay in reaching the final agreement and the possible failure of the negotiations. This is while the Islamic Republic of Iran has set its demands with a realistic approach in accordance with the requirements of the 1994 agreement and in accordance with the experiences gained from the performance of the western parties.

Analysts and international experts say that factors such as pressure from the Zionist regime, disagreements with Congress, being on the threshold of mid-term congressional elections (which will be held in November) and internal problems in America are among the reasons for the reluctance of the Biden administration to return to the JCPOA. In the past months, despite the slogan of diplomatic approach towards Iran, this round of negotiations after a five-month break is another test for the Biden government to show its goodwill.