US succumbs to Israeli pressure on Iran's nuclear deal: Irish MEP

A member of the European Parliament says the United States has succumbed to the Israeli regime's pressure on the 2015 Iran nuclear deal as negotiations aimed at the revival of the agreement remain stalled.

In a post on his Twitter account on Wednesday, Irish MEP Mick Wallace criticized the US and some “hawks” in the European Parliament over the stalled talks on reviving the deal, officially known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA).

“Biden promised to get #JCPOA with #Iran back on track but negotiations have stalled,” he wrote, adding, “[it] seems #US have caved to pressure from #Israel.”

The “hawks in EU Parliament want to abandon” the JCPOA, however, European Union Foreign Policy Chief Josep Borrell “is right to keep dialogue open with Iran,” Wallace hastened to add.

The firebrand lawmaker has often denounced the US-led maximum pressure campaign against the Islamic Republic, as well as attempts by hostile powers to foment chaos and disorder in the country through riots and deadly unrest. 

His latest remarks came as negotiations, which started in April 2021 in Vienna, remain stalled since August last year as Washington refuses to remove the sanctions that were imposed on the Islamic Republic by the previous US administration of Donald Trump.

President Joe Biden, despite pledging to reverse the hard-nosed policies of his predecessor after assuming power, continues to tread on the same path.

His administration has, on the contrary, upped the so-called maximum pressure campaign against Iran and on several occasions declared that the talks to revive the 2015 nuclear deal and lift crippling sanctions are no longer on the agenda.

In recent months, Washington has used the foreign-backed deadly unrest in the country and unsubstantiated reports of drone delivery to Russia to up the ante against Iran through several rounds of sanctions.

Observers believe Washington is trying to use these baseless accusations against Iran to gain leverage in talks and negotiate from a position of strength. 

ME