Blinken says US maintains pressure on Iran despite prisoner deal

Blinken says US maintains pressure on Iran despite prisoner deal

Secretary of State Antony Blinken vowed Tuesday that the United States would keep strain on Iran over its contested nuclear program, regardless of a deal for the discharge of prisoners.

“Nothing about our overall approach to Iran has changed. We continue to pursue a strategy of deterrence, of pressure and diplomacy,” Blinken advised reporters.

“We’ve been clear that Iran must de-escalate to create space for future diplomacy,” he mentioned.

EU-mediated talks to revive a 2015 nuclear deal, scrapped by former president Donald Trump, broke down final yr in a dispute over sanctions aid and amid large, women-led protests in opposition to the clerical state.

Blinken mentioned that the United States remained “committed to ensuring that Iran never acquires a nuclear weapon” and would maintain Iran “accountable for its human rights violations” and “destabilizing actions.”

Iran has moved 5 US residents from jail to deal with arrest in a primary step of a deal introduced final week for his or her launch.

South Korea in flip will unfreeze $6 billion in Iranian oil income frozen out of concern for US sanctions, transferring the cash to an account in Qatar aimed toward humanitarian purchases.

Republican rivals swiftly denounced the deal as enriching an enemy, however Blinken insisted Iran would solely achieve entry to cash that was already its personal.

Source: www.anews.com.tr