U.S. Foreign Policy
Crowds gather across Iran to mark the anniversary of the 1979 seizure of the U.S. embassy, chanting “Death to America” and “Death to Israel,” and burning American and Israeli flags.
“We welcome the E.U.’s announcement that they have coordinated with all participants, and that talks on a mutual return to compliance with the JCPOA will resume,” said U.S. State Department spokesman Ned Price.
Leaders of Germany, the United Kingdom, the United States and France express their “grave and growing concern” that Iran has “accelerated the pace of provocative nuclear steps.”
International Atomic Energy Agency director-general Rafael Grossi warns that though there’s “no indication” Tehran is racing for a bomb, the case of North Korea “should remind us of what may happen if diplomatic efforts go wrong.”
Iran’s uranium enrichment activities are at their most advanced stage to date, as Tehran benefits from a current status quo that lacks maximum pressure or terms associated with a new deal.
“One great fear of the current impasse is rather than revert to pressure, the Biden administration will define ‘other options’ as settling for even less than the JCPOA in a bid to try to cap the nuclear program, which has expanded far beyond the JCPOA’s limits,” said Behnam Ben Taleblu, a senior fellow at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies.
And if they were, former Mossad director Yossi Cohen asserted that Israel must stop it on its own.
In recognition of the 20th-year anniversary, they donated $9.11 to go towards bagels, coffee and doughnuts.
It was the first in-person meeting of the U.S.-Israeli Strategic Consultative Group, a forum for interagency delegations representing defense, military, intelligence and diplomatic officials from both countries.
“We reject that,” says Germany’s Foreign Office in response to reports that Tehran requested that the U.S. release $10 billion in frozen Iranian assets before restarting the talks.
If the U.S. is serious about rejoining the 2015 nuclear accord, “then a serious indication is needed,” says Iran’s foreign minister.
“Such attempts at spreading hatred will never be tolerated in this city,” posted the Friends of Simon Wiesenthal Center on Twitter.
