US says no immediate sanctions relief for Iran
State Department echoes vice president’s statements that removing punitive measures will be ‘phased’ process
The US State Department denied on Monday that Iran would get an immediate relief from sanctions as soon as a final nuclear deal is reached, insisting that the restrictions are to be phased out alongside Iranian fulfillment of its obligations under the deal.
During a press briefing State Department Deputy Spokesperson Marie Harf fielded questions regarding media reports that Iran could get some $50 billion in unfrozen assets following the signing of a deal.
“There is no change in our position…regarding phased sanctions relief as part of a comprehensive deal,” Harf stressed. “They will only receive sanctions relief after (Iran verifiably) completes all of its nuclear related steps.”
Harf clarified that a framework agreement reached at the beginning of the month does not bring with it a lifting of the sanctions that were imposed by world powers to pressure Iran into agreeing to scale back its nuclear program.
“The political agreement does not immediately relieve, suspend or terminate any sanctions on Iran,” she said.
Her comments echoed those made by Vice President Joe Biden several days ago, when he said that a nuclear deal would not include substantial sanctions relief at the onset.
“If at the front end they expect there to be total sanction relief or significant sanction relief, there will be no deal,” Biden said in an address in Cambridge, Massachusetts on Friday to a Democratic political action committee, Politico reported. “This will be, ‘You have to earn it.’”
Last week the Wall Street Journal reported that US President Barack Obama had indicated that some economic sanctions would be relaxed immediately upon reaching an agreement. According to the report, congressional officials who had been briefed by the administration said Iran could get $30 billion to $50 billion in relief as soon as a deal is signed.
The removal of the sanctions was a key demand by the Iranians during negotiations. Iranian officials have said they expect all sanctions to be dissolved as soon a formal deal is signed.
Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, has said that there will be no deal between Iran and the major powers unless there is immediate and total sanctions relief.
Obama himself on Friday left open the door to “creative negotiations” in response to Iran’s demand that sanctions be immediately lifted.
Harf also commented on statements by Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif in which he called for a broad “regional dialogue,” in an op-ed published Monday in The New York Times.
While noting that “there were not a lot of details” of exactly what Zarif was proposing, Harf said that when it came to dealing with the Islamic State group — which the US has targeted with airstrikes in recent months to support Iraqi forces — there was no intention to work alongside the Iranians who have also worked to defeat the jihadists.
“We are not coordinating with Iran, we will not be coordinating with Iran, we will not be sharing intelligence with Iran,” she said.
“Obviously the region is an incredibly complicated place right now. Any country who says they want to make the region more stable is better than the alternative saying they want to do the opposite.”
AP contributed to this report.
The Times of Israel Community.