Iran Press/ America: Speaking on Wednesday on a webinar hosted by the National Iranian American Council (NIAC), Murphy said that he is writing a letter with Senator Tim Kaine that would “make clear that there is a sizable constituency in the United States Senate for this “compliance for compliance” approach."
Murphy said that Trump listened to the advice of those who opposed the JCPOA. “He put to the Iranians a list of 12 demands that included their nuclear program, their [ballistic] missile program and support for Hamas,” said Murphy. “And he waited and waited and waited. Not only did Iran not come to the table on any of the 12 issues listed by the Trump administration, but they restarted their nuclear research program.”
“Maximum pressure was a miserable 100% failure,” Murphy said. “And so as we get ready to reenter the JCPOA, it’s important to remind the opponents of the agreements that their arguments have been tested. Their argument has failed. Now is the work [...] to get back into the agreement as quickly as possible."
“The United States was the first to leave, and so the United States shouldn’t be wary of taking the first step back into the agreement. There is no weakness in the United States admitting that, but for our non-compliance, the JCPOA would still likely be alive and well today. And so both in private and in public, I have counseled the administration to adopt compliance for compliance approaches, to be open and willing to take early steps back into the deal.”
Were the US to do so, Murphy said, and the Iranians not reciprocate, “we would be in a much better position than to take action in a multilateral way with the P5+1. If we were to be able to show the P5+1 that we were willing to get back into the deal, but it was only the Iranian hostility to it that stopped the JCPOA from restarting, we would be on much better multilateral footing. We want to make it clear that the clock is ticking; we don’t have the luxury of time.”
214
Read More:
Iranians say missiles out of negotiations, poll shows
Russia believes US stance toward JCPOA has changed
