‘Do not want to be stung twice’
Iran is seeking economic guarantees from the US to revive a 2015 nuclear deal so as not to be "stung twice" the same way, its foreign minister said.
The agreement, formally known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), gave Iran sanctions relief in exchange for curbs on its atomic programme to guarantee that it could not develop a nuclear weapon -- something it has always denied seeking.
But the US unilateral withdrawal from the accord in 2018 under then-president Donald Trump and the reimpositon of biting economic sanctions prompted Iran to begin rolling back on its own commitments.
"We do not want to be stung twice from the same spot. In order to enjoy the full economic benefits of the JCPOA, the Americans must accept some commitments and guarantees," Hossein Amir-Abdollahian told state television in an interview on Thursday night.
On Thursday, State Department spokesman Ned Price said Iran "doesn't seem to have made the political decision -– or decisions, I should say -- necessary to achieve a mutual return to compliance with the JCPOA."
Yesterday, Iran squarely blamed on the US.
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