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May 7, 2021

NIAC Statement on Continued Vienna Talks

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Friday, May 7, 2021
CONTACT: Mana Mostatabi | 202.386.6325 x103 | [email protected]

Washington DC– Ryan Costello, Policy Director at the National Iranian American Council (NIAC), issued the following statement urging the parties to strive for a breakthrough on returning to the JCPOA, or Iran nuclear deal, on a compliance-for-compliance basis:

“This is a favorable time to reseal the deal on the JCPOA. We call on the parties to close the gaps that have narrowed in subsequent rounds of talks in Vienna and agree to a process that brings the U.S. and Iran back into full compliance with the original bargain.

“For Iran, that means agreeing to return to its full nuclear commitments as outlined in the agreement. For the U.S., it must provide the sanctions relief as spelled out in the deal, without any games that undermine perceptions that Iran will benefit from sanctions relief. 

“No side can afford squandering this historic opportunity to salvage the nuclear accord. The past several years of dramatically escalating tensions bore immense costs for the U.S., Iran, and global peace and stability. Most of all, ordinary people in Iran saw their livelihoods squashed by sanctions which have continued even amid pandemic. A return to the nuclear deal and lifting of economic sanctions is direly needed to alleviate the current humanitarian crisis in Iran.

“NIAC calls on all sides to live up to their words and return to full compliance, as each party has said is their intent. The past several weeks have shown how committed opponents of the deal are to tanking prospects for its revival. There have been renewed acts of sabotage against Iran’s nuclear program, poison pills from hawks in the U.S. Congress to tank the negotiations, and stepped-up attacks from Iranian hardliners to undermine the deal and Iran’s diplomats. Those efforts have not yet sabotaged the process, but if the hardliners on all sides succeed and this window is lost, escalation will once again become the name of the game. 

“Without the nuclear deal, Iran’s nuclear program will grow without limitation, regional clashes will increase, sanctions will continue to wreak immense human suffering, and prospects for diplomatic de-escalation will evaporate. Catastrophic war then, will become increasingly inevitable. Such outcomes are avoidable, but only if all parties put their interests first and finalize a restoration of the agreement. With sufficient political will, the agreement will be restored.”

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