Blinken says Iranian compliance on nuclear deal 'a first step, not a last step'
The US secretary of state told the Senate Foreign Relations Committee that there are 'areas where we can get even stronger commitments from Iran.”
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken defended the Biden administration’s Iran nuclear deal strategy before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee on Tuesday.
US President Joe Biden’s administration is in the process of negotiating a US return to the 2015 Iran nuclear agreement, which is officially known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA). The agreement removed sanctions on Iran in exchange for the Islamic Republic scaling back its nuclear program, which it insists is for peaceful purposes. President Donald Trump withdrew from the JCPOA in 2018 and reimposed harsh sanctions.
The committee chairman, New Jersey Democratic Sen. Bob Menendez, started off his questioning at the hearing by asking Blinken if it is true that Iran continued to develop ballistic missiles, “destabilize the region” and be the “single most significant sponsor of terrorism in the world” after the first Iran deal.
“I think it is fair to say that,” said Blinken, though the diplomat added that Iran’s activities in those areas “have only gotten worse” since Trump left the deal.
