According to the Bloomberg News Agency website on February 6, the Biden administration is considering how to alleviate Iran’s financial suffering without lifting destructive economic sanctions, in order to take a step towards restoring the 2015 nuclear agreement goal abandoned by former President Trump.
Want to “relieve the pain” for Iran
According to the report, according to four people who know the ideas of the Biden administration, some options currently under discussion by U.S. officials include supporting the International Monetary Fund’s loan to Tehran to alleviate the coronavirus epidemic, and relaxing the sanctions that hinder the international community’s epidemic aid from entering Iran.
These initiatives may be implemented on humanitarian grounds.
According to the above-mentioned people familiar with the matter, Biden may also sign an executive order to overturn Trump’s decision to withdraw from the Iran nuclear agreement.
However, these people familiar with the matter also said that the sanctions exemptions against Iran have not been seriously considered to allow it to sell oil on the international market.
“In recent months, the European and Democratic camps have been thinking a lot about a series of urgent measures that the United States can actually take,” said Ellie Geranmayer, a senior fellow at the European Council on External Relations.
She said that the idea currently under consideration is a measure that can “rease Iran effectively”.
Biden has been criticizing Trump’s decision to withdraw from the Iran nuclear agreement, saying that it shortens the “breakthrough period” needed for Iran to make nuclear weapons.
However, the return to the Iran nuclear agreement is also problematic.
Iran’s leaders are demanding an end to U.S. sanctions and violate the nuclear agreement by enriching uranium beyond the limits allowed by the nuclear agreement.
The report quoted Ned Price, spokesman of the U.S. State Department, as saying that the United States hopes to consult with its European allies that have joined the Iran nuclear agreement before releasing aid and any other mitigation measures against the coronavirus epidemic. When Trump withdrew from the Iran nuclear agreement and resumed economic sanctions, European allies who were a party to the Iran nuclear agreement were furious.
“Before we announce any policy adjustments along this line, we want to make sure that consultations are held, and we are doing the work right now,” Price said.
According to Reuters on February 6, Iranian Foreign Minister Zarif urged the United States to take prompt action to return to the 2015 nuclear agreement.
He pointed out that if the United States does not relax sanctions by February 21, then the bill passed by the Iranian parliament will force the government to strengthen its nuclear position.
Zarif also mentioned the June elections in Iran. If a hardline president is elected, it may further endanger the nuclear agreement.
The hardliner-led Iranian parliament passed a bill last December, setting a two-month deadline for the United States to ease sanctions.
Push to end the Yemeni war
According to AFP on February 6, the United States has officially taken measures to remove the Yemeni Houthis from the list of terrorist organizations.
Some humanitarian groups said that the identification of Houthis as terrorist organizations is not conducive to the implementation of assistance on the ground. Meanwhile, Yemeni warring parties cautiously welcomed Biden’s efforts to promote peace.
Yemen’s six-year brutal war has killed tens of thousands of people, displaced millions of people, and triggered what the United Nations calls the world’s worst humanitarian disaster.
A spokesman for the U.S. State Department said on Friday local time that the State Department had “officially notified Congress” that Secretary of State Blincoln intends to decharacterize the Houthis terrorist organization.
This measure will take effect soon.
The day after, Biden announced that the United States would no longer support Saudi-led military operations in Yemen.
A spokesman for the U.S. State Department said: “This decision has nothing to do with our views on the Houthis and their bad practices.
We made this decision solely because the last government’s last-minute characterization of the Houthis led to a humanitarian disaster.
Brincoln’s predecessor Pompeo announced last month that the Houthis would be listed as a terrorist organization on the eve of his departure, citing that the Houthis colluded with Iran and attacked Yemen’s Aden airport last December.
Some humanitarian groups said that the Houthi are the de facto controllers of many parts of Yemen, and the assistance must be dealt with the Houthi.
Humanitarian groups therefore fear that aid efforts may lead to their own risk of prosecution in the United States.
According to AFP on February 6, the U.S. State Department said on Saturday local time that U.S. Secretary of State Blincoln made his first call with Saudi Foreign Secretary Faisal, during which Brolinn advocated for human rights and called for an end to the Yemeni war.
In a call on Friday local time, the two discussed regional security, counter-terrorism, and joint deterrence and protection of Saudi Arabia from attacks, Pryce, spokesman of the State Department, said in a statement.
Price also said: “The Secretary of State outlined many priorities of the new government, including raising the importance of human rights issues and ending the war in Yemen.”
Critics have previously accused former President Trump of supporting Saudi leaders and ignoring human rights issues.
The call comes after Biden announced on Thursday local time that he would let the United States stop supporting the Saudi war in Yemen.
Saudi Arabia welcomes Biden’s “commitment to cooperate with the Kingdom to defend its sovereignty and resist threats,” Saudi News Agency reported.
