Biden says Iran nuclear deal “dead,” but U.S. won’t announce it

U.S. President Joe Biden admitted that the nuclear deal with Iran is effectively dead, but Washington will not announce it officially, he said.

A female voter asked Biden if he could finally declare officially that there would be no deal with Iran. “No,” Biden replied. Asked why he couldn’t do it, the president explained that “there are many reasons for that.” “It’s dead, but we’re not going to announce it. It’s a long story,” he added.

The woman, supported by several other members of the Iranian diaspora who attended the meeting, said the authorities in Tehran “do not represent them” and asked “not to make any agreements with the mullahs.” “I know they don’t represent you, but they will get the nuclear weapons they will represent,” Biden responded.

At a Tuesday briefing for reporters, Biden’s statements, caught on video, were asked to comment by White House National Security Council Strategic Communications Coordinator John Kirby. “Right now we’re not focusing on the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), it’s not on our agenda,” Kirby explained, commenting on the White House chief. “We just don’t envision an agreement ever coming anytime soon while Iran continues to kill its own citizens and sell drones to Russia,” he argued. “There is no progress right now on the Iran deal. We don’t expect any progress in the near future,” the NSC spokesman added.

The JCPOA on Iran’s nuclear program was signed with Iran in 2015 to address the crisis over its nuclear developments by the permanent five of the UN Security Council and Germany. Previous U.S. President Donald Trump decided in 2018 to withdraw from the arrangement. Current U.S. leader Joe Biden has repeatedly signaled a willingness to bring Washington back into the nuclear deal with Tehran. Russia, Britain, Germany, China, the U.S. and France have been negotiating with Iran in Vienna since April 2021 to restore the JCPOA to its original form.

In August, The Washington Post published an article claiming that Iran was supplying Russia with its drones. Subsequently, similar statements were made by members of the U.S. administration. Moscow and Tehran have repeatedly denied that Iranian drones were supplied to Russia for use in Ukraine.