Joe Biden said in an interview taped Friday that he will not be lifting any Donald Trump-era sanctions on Iran as an incentive to get them back to the negotiating table regarding the nuclear deal.
'No,' the president simply told CBS' Norah O'Donnell in his first sit-down interview since becoming president when asked about loosening sanctions on Tehran.
The interview with air Sunday evening just before the Super Bowl. Biden's comments come as Ayatollah Ali Khamenei urged Washington on Sunday to lift all sanctions if it wants Iran to live up to commitments under its nuclear deal with world powers.
'If (the U.S.) wants Iran to return to its commitments, it must lift all sanctions in practice, then we will do verification ... then we will return to our commitments,' Iran's Supreme Leader told state TV in his first comments on the matter since Biden took office.
After rejecting the notion, O'Donnell asked Biden if Iran has to stop enriching uranium first – to which the president nodded.
President Joe Biden, during an interview Friday that will air Sunday evening, said he would not loosen sanctions on Iran to get them back to the negotiating table
Biden's comments come as Iran's Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said Sunday that all sanctions need to be lifted before they fulfill commitments under the Obama-era nuclear deal
'If (the U.S.) wants Iran to return to its commitments, it must lift all sanctions in practice, then we will do verification ... then we will return to our commitments,' Iran's Supreme Leader told state TV in his first comments on the matter since Biden took office
After rejecting the notion of lifting sanctions, CBS' Norah O'Donnell (left) asked Biden if Iran has to stop enriching uranium first – to which the president nodded
Donald Trump in 2018 unilaterally withdrew the U.S. from the Obama-era nuclear deal with Iran.
Under the deal, Tehran agreed to limit its enrichment of uranium in exchange for the lifting of economic sanctions.
While Biden has said he will move to revive the deal eventually, he insisted that Iran must first reverse its nuclear steps, creating a contest of wills between the nations.
'This is the definitive and irreversible policy of the Islamic Republic, and all of the country´s officials are unanimous on this, and no one will deviate from it,' Khamenei added Sunday, reiterating Iranian leaders' previous remarks that the U.S. must ease its sanctions before Iran comes back into compliance.
The supreme leader, 81, has the final say on all matters of state in Iran and approved the efforts at reaching the nuclear deal in 2015.
In response to Trump's so-called 'maximum pressure' campaign against Iran, the country began to gradually violate its atomic commitments, and threatened further provocations in a bid to increase its leverage and get Biden to prioritize a return to the deal as he moves to dismantle Trump´s legacy. Biden has signed a series of executive actions that reverse course on a wide range of issues, including climate change and immigration.
Pictures released by the official website of the office of the Iranian supreme leader on Sunday show Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei speaking during a meeting with army's air force and air defense staff in Tehran
Deputy commander of Iran's army air force Gen. Hamid Vahedi chants slogan during a meeting of army's air force and air defense staff with Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei in Tehran on Sunday
Following the killing last December of an Iranian scientist credited with spearheading the country's disbanded military nuclear program, Iran's parliament approved a law to block international nuclear inspectors later this month - a serious violation of the accord.
Iran also has begun enriching uranium closer to weapons-grade levels and said it would experiment with uranium metals, a key component of a nuclear warhead. The country has announced its moves and insisted that all breaches of the pact are easily reversible. Tehran says its nuclear program is for peaceful purposes only.
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