The White House conceded Monday that Iran is still pushing for immediate sanctions relief in any final deal to roll back its nuclear program, a major point of contention with the U.S. and other international negotiators who are pushing for phasing out the economic penalties over time.
“The issue that you have highlighted is one that still needs to be negotiated,” White House press secretary Josh Earnest told a reporter during his daily briefing.
“It is the strong view of the administration that it would not be wise to take away all of the sanctions on day one,” he said. “It is our view, based on Iran’s history, that it would be best to continue to have an incentive for them to comply with the agreement — that’s why we believe that this phased approach is the best one.”
In the wake of Thursday’s breakthrough on a framework for a final deal, Iranian leaders have continued to say they are pursuing immediate sanctions relief while U.S. officials and their international allies have said they will insist on phased-out sanctions.
The stark difference on such a key part has led critics to say that last week’s framework announcement was face-saving window-dressing aimed at continuing the talks, which have a final deadline of June 30.
In the days leading up to last week’s announcement, White House and State Department officials said there would be no deal until everything is agreed on, a point Earnest reiterated Monday.
“Does [the disagreement on the timing of sanctions relief] mean that there was no framework agreement last week?” one reporter asked. “That’s a pretty key pillar of any deal.”
“We’ve been very clear that there are still some important details that need to be locked down,” Earnest said. “We’ve been successful in getting some pretty clear commitments in scaling back Iran’s nuclear program, but this deal is not done yet and it won’t be until all these details are locked down.”
