The White House said Monday it had not changed its position on Iranian sanctions a day after President Biden appeared to shift policy by signaling that penalties would be lifted only if Tehran stopped enriching uranium.
It leaves the two countries at loggerheads over what comes next and a swirl of questions about when a nod of the head does not mean yes.
The issue arose after a CBS News Super Bowl interview in which Biden was asked whether he would agree to Iran’s supreme leader’s request that Washington lift sanctions first in order to get Tehran back to the negotiating table.
“No,” said Biden.
Interviewer Nora O’Donnell then asked: “They have to stop enriching uranium first?”
Biden nodded.
That triggered a string of headlines suggesting his nod meant a shift from the previous position that Iran must come into compliance with the 2015 nuclear deal before sanctions imposed by the Trump administration would be lifted. Under that Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, Iran is permitted to enrich uranium up to 3.5% — but last month the country announced it is beginning to enrich uranium up to 20%.
With Iran resuming its enrichment of uranium, we asked Pres. Biden if the U.S. will lift sanctions first in order to get Iran back to the negotiating table on a nuclear deal.
“No,” Pres. Biden says, affirming that Iran will have to stop its enrichment program first pic.twitter.com/OPszf15Q1o
— Norah O’Donnell ?? (@NorahODonnell) February 7, 2021
Press secretary Jen Psaki was asked how the administration expected to get beyond the stalemate with each country demanding the other act first.
“Just to be very clear, the president never said that exactly,” she said. “It was stated by the interviewer, Norah O’Donnell, who did the interview, and he didn’t respond to the question. So the president’s position is that if Iran comes back into full…”
Weijia Jang, of CBS News, interrupted to say: “He nodded.”
Psaki continued: “I think if we were announcing a major policy change we would do it in a different way than a slight head nod.
“But overall, his position remains exactly what it has been, which is that if Iran comes into full compliance with its obligations under the JCPOA, the United States will do the same,” the spokeswoman said.
For now, the result is deadlock.
Under the 2015 agreement, the U.S. and other world powers lifted economic sanctions in return for strict limits on its nuclear program.
In 2018, President Donald Trump reimposed sanctions, saying the deal was not stringent enough and had allowed Iran to develop ballistic missiles and operate as an aggressive power in the Middle East.
On Sunday, Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said the U.S. would have to lift the sanctions before Iran would resume its commitments under the deal.
