U.S. must guarantee won’t repeat past noncompliance: Marandi

TEHRAN – Mohammad Marandi, a Tehran University professor and advisor to the Iranian negotiating team, has said that Iran will not let the U.S. repeat its past noncompliance with the 2015 Iran nuclear deal.

“America must assure Iran that it will not repeat its past history, because it was Washington that tore up the JCPOA by violating its commitments. Biden continues Trump's policy and we will not allow the past to repeat itself,” Marandi said in an interview with the Qatari-owned Al Araby news television, referring to the Iran deal by its official name, the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action.

He added, “Talking about a constructive response means for them that we accept their terms, and for us it means a balanced and strong agreement,” according to Fars News.

Marandi reiterated what he had earlier said on Twitter.  “Iran has responded as promised. It's time for the Biden team to make a serious decision. For the US ‘constructive’ usually means accepting US terms,” Marandi said on Twitter after the U.S. described the Iranian response as unconstructive.

Marandi added, “For Iran it means a deal that is balanced and protected. If the US makes the right decision, an agreement can be swiftly concluded.”

He said in another tweet that “E3/US know that the Iranian response is very reasonable. US & E3 negotiators have said before that ‘words matter.’ In order for the deal to be signed (that can happen within days) there must be no ambiguities left that could later be used to harm the deal. It's not complicated.”

In the Al Araby interview, Marandi said if the American government is honest, an agreement can be reached within two or three days.

The United States has described the Iranian response as unconstructive. But Iran says the U.S. needs to make a political decision in order for Vienna talks to result in an agreement.

After a weeklong evaluation of the U.S. response to earlier Iranian views on the EU final text, Tehran submitted its responses to Washington via the EU coordinator for the talks in Vienna over reviving the 2015 Iran nuclear deal.

The U.S. provided an early assessment of the Iranian response this time around, describing it as unconstructive, a position that has been perceived in Tehran as lack of seriousness on the part of the U.S.

“The submitted text has a constructive approach with the goal of finalizing the negotiations,” Spokesman for the Iranian Ministry of Foreign Affairs Nasser Kanaani said of the Iranian response.

Courtesy of Tehran Times