Washington Considers Lifting Symbolic Sanctions on Khamenei
Iran
Washington - Asharq Al-Awsat
A former US official and two sources familiar with the Iranian nuclear talks in Vienna said that the administration of US President Joe Biden is considering lifting sanctions on Iran’s supreme leader Ali Khamenei as part of negotiations aimed at reviving the 2015 nuclear deal. The sources told NBC News that US and Iranian negotiators have discussed the possible move in indirect talks in Vienna, as part of a wider set of compromises that would see the United States return to the 2015 pact and Iran once again abide by restrictions on its nuclear program. "I think that's definitely an Iranian demand," said Vali Nasr, professor of International Affairs and Middle East Studies at the Johns Hopkins University School of Advanced International Studies who worked as a diplomat in the Obama administration. "And I think the US is open to it." NBC said that in June 2019, after a US drone was shot down by Iranian forces, former US President Donald Trump imposed sanctions on the supreme leader and officials appointed by him, banning the Ayatollah from travel to the United States or any financial transactions with US companies. “The sanctions are almost entirely symbolic, as the supreme leader does not travel abroad and he and his inner circle have no assets in the United States,” experts and former US officials say. Ali Vaez of the International Crisis Group think tank said that removing the sanctions on the supreme leader might help the Biden administration as it tries to persuade Tehran to accept a number of difficult compromises in the negotiations. "At the end of the day, what is a more significant priority — curbing Iran's nuclear program or imposing sanctions that in practice have almost no impact?" Vaez said. Republican and other opponents of the 2015 nuclear deal would likely condemn any move to lift the sanctions as a sign of weakness towards a regime that they say is sowing havoc in the Middle East. Meanwhile, Iranian news outlets quoted Mahmoud Vaezi, President Hassan Rouhani’s chief of staff, as saying that the US had agreed in principle to lift all of the more than 1,000 economic sanctions that were re-imposed or added by Donald Trump after he exited the deal, including those on Iran’s oil, petrochemicals, banking and steel sectors. However, Washington denied those statements.
from Asharq AL-awsat https://english.aawsat.com/home/article/3049561/washington-considers-lifting-symbolic-sanctions-khamenei
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