Iranian Raisi slams US at UN, Biden offers to comply with nuclear deal

Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi tore the United States apart in his first speech at the UN, lambasting it for its sanctions on Iran, its military interventions abroad and the January 6 insurgency on Capitol Hill in Washington.

“From Capitol Hill to Kabul, a clear message has been sent to the world: the hegemonic system of the United States has no credibility, either inside or outside the country,” said Raisi.

The speech, delivered remotely in a pre-recorded video message Tuesday evening for the United Nations General Assembly, marked a much harsher tone than that of Raisi’s predecessor, Hassan Rouhani, who had aimed for a rapprochement with Washington.

Rouhani lost considerable popularity after the 2015 Iran nuclear deal that he negotiated with the Obama administration and other world powers, but almost collapsed after the Trump administration pulled out in 2018. This withdrawal was followed by sweeping US sanctions against Iran that crippled its economy and sent its currency to record lows.

The 2015 agreement, also known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), lifted economic sanctions against Iran in exchange for restrictions on its nuclear program.

“Sanctions are America’s new means of war with the nations of the world,” Raisi said in his speech, adding that the imposition of such sanctions during the coronavirus pandemic was “crimes against humanity”.

President Joe Biden also made his first speech at the UN as president earlier in the day, but stressed his administration’s willingness to join the nuclear deal with “full compliance” if Tehran did the same.

“The United States remains committed to preventing Iran from acquiring a nuclear weapon. We are working with the P5 + 1 to diplomatically engage Iran and demand a return to the JCPOA,” Biden said.

The remarks are a clear turnaround in the Trump administration’s Iranian policy and represent a central foreign policy objective of the Biden White House: reviving the nuclear deal and a diplomatic legacy of the Obama years. Biden’s stated goals have shaken Iranian hawks, who warn against trusting the Iranian regime or allowing it to enrich uranium.

Despite Raisi’s critical side and his long-standing anti-Western stance, the Iranian leader still does not rule out resuming negotiations on the JCPOA and that talks could be useful, if only to achieve the lifting of the negotiations. sanctions against Iran.

Still, Raisi added, “We don’t trust the promises made by the US government.”

Indirect negotiations that started earlier this year, mediated by the European parties, have since stalled.

All of this comes as Tehran ramps up its storage and enrichment of uranium in progressive violation of the 2015 agreement, which it says is a response to US sanctions. Iran announced at the end of May that it was enriching uranium to 60%, a dramatic departure from the level of 3.67% authorized by the JCPOA.

Following the news, the director of the International Atomic Energy Agency, Rafael Grossi, sounded the alarm by declaring: “A country that gets 60% richer is a very serious thing – only countries bomb making reach this level. “

“Sixty percent is almost military grade, the commercial enrichment is 2.3 [percent]”Grossi said in May. Iranian officials maintain that enrichment is the sovereign right of their country and that their nuclear activity remains for peaceful purposes and can be canceled if the United States lifts its sanctions.