Iran Press/ Commentary: In the latest move by Washington on Iran, which is seen as contrary to its rhetoric about lifting sanctions and returning to the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), the US Treasury Department on Thursday announced a network that would allow Iran to circumvent sanctions and sell its petrochemical products has been put on the sanctions list.
"Today, the US Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) sanctioned a network of Iranian petrochemical producers, as well as front companies in the People’s Republic of China (PRC) and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) that support Triliance Petrochemical Co. Ltd. and Iran’s Petrochemical Commercial Company (PCC), entities instrumental in brokering the sale of Iranian petrochemicals abroad. This network helps effectuate international transactions and evade sanctions, supporting the sale of Iranian petrochemical products to customers in the PRC and the rest of East Asia, the US Treasury Department noted in a statement.
Mehdi Safari, the Deputy Foreign Minister for Economic Diplomacy, in response to the new US sanctions, said that Iran's petrochemicals always were under sanctions, added: "Sales have been continuing and will continue in various ways."
US President Joe Biden has repeatedly stressed the need to return to the JCPOA and claimed that he would do so as soon as possible. However, after eight rounds of lengthy talks in Vienna between Iran and the P4+1, with the indirect presence of the United States, despite initial optimism about reaching an agreement on the lifting of anti-Iranian sanctions by the United States and the return of Iran to fulfill its JCPOA-related obligations, now there is an atmosphere of doubt and even despair in this regard.
In fact, the United States is trying to throw the ball in Iran's court on the ground of the failure of the Vienna talks and blame Tehran for the current unknown situation. Iran, on the other hand, has repeatedly made its demands clear and unequivocal, and it is Biden's administration that apparently either does not want to or cannot respond positively to these rational demands.
The Biden administration has, in effect, continued the Trump administration's approach to continuing the campaign of maximum pressure on Iran, and while raising demands beyond JCPOA's framework, it basically lacks the will to respond positively to Iran's legitimate. This is exacerbated by the fact that almost all Republican lawmakers and many Democrats have stated their opposition to any agreement with Iran without considering it in Congress.
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Western parties and even Europeans are now expressing growing skepticism about the possibility of reaching a new agreement to resume the 2015 deal. Negotiations to lift sanctions in Vienna have stalled for several months. Since the beginning of the talks, the US administration has repeatedly tried to accuse various parties, including Iran and Russia, of slowing down and obstructing the talks, instead of proposing practical initiatives to advance the talks.
Despite acknowledging the failure of the policy of pressure and sanctions against Iran, the Biden administration continues to threaten Tehran in this regard. "The steps that the Iranians have taken on enrichment and the verification mechanisms are not helpful, and we have responded to them by increasing economic pressure. We have imposed sanctions on Iran, and more sanctions are on the way," said Jake Sullivan, the White House national security adviser.
Lawrence Norman, a reporter for the Wall Street Journal, tweeted about the new US Treasury Department sanctions against Iran's petrochemical exports, claiming that the Biden administration believes that the sanctions imposed today are in conflict with the revived JCPOA. If an agreement is reached, they will be lifted and the Europeans will be asked to convey this message to the Iranians.
Norman added: "About 150 previous sanctions by the Biden administration were all considered compatible with the agreement, and it was said that they would not be lifted if the JCPOA was revived."
If this is true, it must be said that the Biden administration has been in apparent conflict and confusion in its policy towards Iran and the JCPOA, and this issue clearly explains the reason for the failure of the Vienna talks.
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