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Iran on Saturday welcomed the Biden administration’s decision to suspend support for offensive operations in Yemen while pressuring it to revert to the Obama-era nuclear deal.
The country’s foreign ministry on Saturday hailed President Biden’s move on Yemen, which would reverse a policy of supporting the offensive efforts of the Saudi-led coalition that has fueled a humanitarian crisis. Saudi Arabia and its Arab Gulf allies are waging a brutal war against Houthi rebels in Yemen, who have ties to Iran.
“Stopping support … for the Saudi coalition, if not a political maneuver, could be a step towards correcting past mistakes,” Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Saeed Khatibzadeh said, according to state media.
The praise comes two days after Biden announced the overthrow, which followed growing bipartisan concerns over the civilian fallout from the Saudi coalition offensive. The president also appointed veteran diplomat Timothy Lenderking as his special envoy to Yemen.
“This war must end,” Biden said in a State Department speech. “And to underscore our commitment, we are ending all US support for offensive operations in the Yemen war, including relevant arms sales.
In addition to halting support for offensive operations, the State Department also said on Friday it was overturning an 11th hour decision by the Trump administration to label the Houthis as a terrorist group, a label that critics had warned could hamper the delivery of humanitarian aid to areas under rebels. control.
While Iran praised the steps Yemen has taken, it also urged Biden to take concrete steps towards joining the Iran nuclear deal. The pact was finalized under former President Obama in 2015, but the former President Trump
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“Time is running out for Americans, both because of the Parliament bill and the electoral atmosphere that will follow the Iranian New Year,” Zarif said in an interview with Hamshahri newspaper published on Saturday.
Iran’s parliament passed a bill in December setting a two-month deadline for the United States to ease sanctions before further increasing its uranium enrichment. The deadline is February 21.
Biden campaigned to join the deal, describing it as a key tool to curtail Tehran’s nuclear program.
However, the deal will require commitments from Iran to roll back progress in its uranium enrichment, which has intensified since Trump’s withdrawal from the deal. In January, Tehran resumed enriching uranium to 20 percent – a level reached before the agreements and a key marker in the process of making military-grade materials.
Biden said Iran must return to its end of the deal for negotiations to begin on a broader deal, although Tehran has insisted that sanctions be lifted before changes are made to its stockpile.
“The more America procrastinates, the more it loses … it will appear that Mr. Biden’s administration does not want to get rid of Trump’s failed legacy,” Zarif said in the interview. “We don’t need to go back to the negotiating table. America has to find the ticket to come to the table. “
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