The Biden Administration and the Iran File

With the Biden Administration weighing its options on the Iran/JCPOA file, two recent developments are key to understanding what may lie ahead.

 

First, here is the latest report on Iran's nuclear activities from November 2020:

 

 

...and here from the November 11, 2020 IAEA Verification and Monitoring report:

 

 

While I am loathe to quote from report in the mainstream media, there are no additional sources for the latest developments in Iran.  According to this report by Associated Press:

 

...the IAEA has found that Iran has starting installing equipment that can be used to produce uranium metal which is prohibited under the terms of the nearly defunct JCPOA.  Uranium metal can be created by converting high-enriched unanium gas (UF6) into uranium dioxide (UO2) metal that provides an outer coating for the fuel rods that power a nuclear reaction.  The metal can be used to generate electricity but can also be used to create nuclear weapons.

 

This development was confirmed back in January 2021 in a tweet by Iran's Ambassador to the IAEA Kazem  Gharibabadi as shown here:

 

In the most recent development, Iran's Foreign Minister appeared in a YouTube video on February 9, 2021 with the following message:

 

 

Here is a key quote:

 

"Not even the COVID-19 pandemic compelled the previous U.S. regime to cease its lawless assault on ordinary Iranians.  Donald Trump betted on the myth that Iran is a nation that can be forced to choose between collapse and submission.  We have all seen the outcome of that bet.  But Trump was not the first, not the second but, in fact, the seventh consecutive U.S. president who has made, and lost, the exact same wager.  With a new administration in Washington, there is an opportunity to try a new approach.  But the current window is fleeting.  Soon, my government will be compelled to take further remedial action in response to the American and European dismal failure to live up to their commitment under the nuclear deal.  This remedial action, as directed by our Parliament, and in accordance with our rights within the JCPOA entails an enhancement of our nuclear program and a reduction in our cooperation with IAEA inspectors.  It can be averted only if the United States decides to learn from Trump's maximum failure rather than lean on it."

 

Here is what was reported by the Islamic Republic News Agency on February 11, 2021:

 

With a secretly nuclear-armed Israel taking these actions back in November 2020:

 

...Washington has a relatively short window to respond to Iran's requests.

 

With these recent developments, it will be interesting to see how the Biden Administration responds and whether it rolls back the imposition of sanctions that have essentially killed the JCPOA.