The United States must end its policy of "maximum pressure" on Iran and effectively lift the resulting economic sanctions if it wants to revive the nuclear deal signed in 2015, says Iran’s Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdollahian.
Speaking at the World Economic Forum in Davos, the Iranian politician said the Biden administration’s approach to Iran was "no different" from the one pursued by former US president Donald Trump. His government left the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action pact in 2018 and imposed sanctions on Iran's oil, metals and textile industries, as well as on senior officials and military commanders.
“The Trump maximum pressure policy must be removed,” Mr Amirabdollahian said. "We can’t return to the deal if the elements of the Trump maximum pressure policy are still there.
“We are for a strong, lasting and good deal and we are committed to it. But there must be a realistic approach to finalise it.
"The US side has to make the decision and the ball is in their court," he said.
"We are committed to a peaceful nuclear programme.”
Economic sanctions are the main tool used by the United States to pressure Iran into curbing its nuclear programme.
The US suspects Tehran is secretly developing a military nuclear programme, but Iranian officials, including the incumbent foreign minister, deny this.
The 2015 deal lifted most of the US and international sanctions on Iran in exchange for limits on its nuclear activities. But Mr Trump withdrew the US from the deal in 2018 and imposed more sanctions.
“We had this big achievement in 2015. What did the Americans do? They imposed sanctions and froze our assets. They aren’t paying us anything if they lift sanctions. This’s not from their own pockets,” Mr Amirabdollahian said, speaking in Farsi with simultaneous English interpretation, at one of the live sessions on the final day of the forum.
In response to the US withdrawal from the deal, Iran has since then breached the deal's major restriction, which is enriching uranium closer to a higher purity needed to make nuclear weapons, according to the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).
Last week, UN special rapporteur on unilateral coercive measures Alena Douhan said sweeping US sanctions imposed on Tehran have badly affected Iran’s economy and worsened the humanitarian situation in the country.
But Iranian opposition and human rights activists also blame poor governance and the use of the country's limited resources to support proxies in the region for deteriorating living conditions.
In the absence of official accounting, it is not clear exactly how much financial support Iran has given to the Syrian regime, the Houthis in Yemen, Hezbollah in Lebanon and militias in Iraq.
In recent weeks, public anger over worsening economic conditions has mounted in Iran following price hikes of food staples under a new policy to amend the food subsidy system. Scattered protests have erupted in several provinces, with Iranian state media reporting nearly two dozen arrests.
Revolutionary Guard not the main sticking point
Talks between the Americans, Europeans and Iran to revive the nuclear deal began in Vienna last year but have stalled in recent weeks.
Mr Amirabdollahian said the US is “wrong” if it viewed the controversial issue of removing Iran's Revolutionary Guard from its terrorist list as the main obstacle to reviving the nuclear deal.
“The Americans know very well and Mr Biden knows very well that the economic sanctions are the most important thing. The Israelis have amplified the issue of the Revolutionary Guards and portrayed falsely to the media that it’s the main obstacle to reaching a deal,” he said.
American officials said previously that Iran demanded the designation be removed as a condition for restoring the deal, but the United States refused.
On Sunday, a senior Revolutionary Guards officer, Colonel Sayad Khodaei, was assassinated outside his home in Tehran when two gunmen on motorcycles shot him in his car.
Iran accused Israel for the assassination as it did before in a series of targeted killings of Iranian scientists. Israel has not acknowledged any of the attacks.
Mr Amirabdollahian also dismissed as a “fabricated Israeli story” American press reports that Iran obtained secret records at the IAEA -- which is the United Nations nuclear watchdog -- and used them to prepare cover stories to conceal suspected work on nuclear weapons.
The reports claimed that the Israeli intelligence service Mossad managed to get the alleged records from an official archive in Tehran in recent years.
A spokesperson for the Israeli government was not immediately available to comment on the Iranian foreign minister’s accusations or the American reports about the alleged secret IAEA records.
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ICC Women's T20 World Cup Asia Qualifier 2025, Thailand
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May 9, v Malaysia
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May 13, v Malaysia
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May 18 and 19, semi-finals
May 20, final
Mohammed bin Zayed Majlis
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Killing of Qassem Suleimani
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The specs
Engine: 5.0-litre supercharged V8
Transmission: Eight-speed auto
Power: 575bhp
Torque: 700Nm
Price: Dh554,000
On sale: now
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
Grand slam winners since July 2003
Who has won major titles since Wimbledon 2003 when Roger Federer won his first grand slam
Roger Federer 19 (8 Wimbledon, 5 Australian Open, 5 US Open, 1 French Open)
Rafael Nadal 16 (10 French Open, 3 US Open, 2 Wimbledon, 1 Australian Open)
Novak Djokovic 12 (6 Australian Open, 3 Wimbledon, 2 US Open, 1 French Open)
Andy Murray 3 (2 Wimbledon, 1 US Open)
Stan Wawrinka 3 (1 Australian Open, 1 French Open, 1 US Open)
Andy Roddick 1 (1 US Open)
Gaston Gaudio 1 (1 French Open)
Marat Safin 1 (1 Australian Open)
Juan Martin del Potro 1 (1 US Open)
Marin Cilic 1 (1 US Open)
PROFILE OF SWVL
Started: April 2017
Founders: Mostafa Kandil, Ahmed Sabbah and Mahmoud Nouh
Based: Cairo, Egypt
Sector: transport
Size: 450 employees
Investment: approximately $80 million
Investors include: Dubai’s Beco Capital, US’s Endeavor Catalyst, China’s MSA, Egypt’s Sawari Ventures, Sweden’s Vostok New Ventures, Property Finder CEO Michael Lahyani
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
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Nigel Farage told Reform's annual conference that the party will proscribe the Muslim Brotherhood if he becomes Prime Minister.
"We will stop dangerous organisations with links to terrorism operating in our country," he said. "Quite why we've been so gutless about this – both Labour and Conservative – I don't know.
“All across the Middle East, countries have banned and proscribed the Muslim Brotherhood as a dangerous organisation. We will do the very same.”
It is 10 years since a ground-breaking report into the Muslim Brotherhood by Sir John Jenkins.
Among the former diplomat's findings was an assessment that “the use of extreme violence in the pursuit of the perfect Islamic society” has “never been institutionally disowned” by the movement.
The prime minister at the time, David Cameron, who commissioned the report, said membership or association with the Muslim Brotherhood was a "possible indicator of extremism" but it would not be banned.
Learn more about Qasr Al Hosn
In 2013, The National's History Project went beyond the walls to see what life was like living in Abu Dhabi's fabled fort:
The National Archives, Abu Dhabi
Founded over 50 years ago, the National Archives collects valuable historical material relating to the UAE, and is the oldest and richest archive relating to the Arabian Gulf.
Much of the material can be viewed on line at the Arabian Gulf Digital Archive - https://www.agda.ae/en
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THE BIO: Martin Van Almsick
Hometown: Cologne, Germany
Family: Wife Hanan Ahmed and their three children, Marrah (23), Tibijan (19), Amon (13)
Favourite dessert: Umm Ali with dark camel milk chocolate flakes
Favourite hobby: Football
Breakfast routine: a tall glass of camel milk
The story of Edge
Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and Deputy Supreme Commander of the Armed Forces, established Edge in 2019.
It brought together 25 state-owned and independent companies specialising in weapons systems, cyber protection and electronic warfare.
Edge has an annual revenue of $5 billion and employs more than 12,000 people.
Some of the companies include Nimr, a maker of armoured vehicles, Caracal, which manufactures guns and ammunitions company, Lahab
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Key facilities
- Olympic-size swimming pool with a split bulkhead for multi-use configurations, including water polo and 50m/25m training lanes
- Premier League-standard football pitch
- 400m Olympic running track
- NBA-spec basketball court with auditorium
- 600-seat auditorium
- Spaces for historical and cultural exploration
- An elevated football field that doubles as a helipad
- Specialist robotics and science laboratories
- AR and VR-enabled learning centres
- Disruption Lab and Research Centre for developing entrepreneurial skills
