US Secretary of State Antony Blinken's first press conference caught the attention of Iranian media and officials in Tehran when he addressed the reentry of the United States into the Iran nuclear deal.

“If Iran comes back into full compliance with its obligations under the JCPOA, the United States would do the same thing," Blinken said at a Wednesday press conference, using the acronym for the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action. He added, "Then we would use that as a platform to build, with our allies and partners, what we called a longer and stronger agreement and to deal with a number of other issues that are deeply problematic in the relationship with Iran.” 

Blinken was responding to a question from a reporter and not hashing out a long-term US strategy. While he was more or less reiterating what Biden’s team had campaigned on, Iranian officials jumped on the comments. 

Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif tweeted directly to Blinken, offering a “reality check” in the form of a list of US actions since the signing of the 2015 deal. Zarif wrote that Washington “violated JCPOA, blocked food/medicine to Iranians" and punished adherence to UN Security Council Resolution 2231, which endorsed the JCPOA. Zarif also wrote that Iran abided by the deal and “only took foreseen remedial measures” in its departures. He asked, “Now, who should take 1st step? Never forget Trump’s maximum failure.”