Commentary: Time for Washington to act first to salvage Iran nuke deal

The latest meeting of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) Joint Commission is held in Vienna, Austria, April 27, 2021. (EU Delegation Vienna/Handout via Xinhua)

Washington, if sincere in its intent to return to the pact, should act first, given its decision to unilaterally withdraw from the JCPOA and apply maximum pressure on Iran thereafter, setting off the current crisis.

VIENNA, April 29 (Xinhua) -- The negotiations on getting the United States and Iran to resume compliance with the historic 2015 Iran nuclear deal, officially known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), have entered their fourth week in Vienna.

The international community is longing for a major breakthrough in the negotiations. Washington, if sincere in its intent to return to the pact, should act first, given its decision to unilaterally withdraw from the JCPOA and apply maximum pressure on Iran thereafter, setting off the current crisis.

Elaborating on his country's logic for returning to the nuclear agreement, Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif said earlier this month that "the United States, which caused this crisis, should return to full compliance first."

Photo taken on April 8, 2021 shows the White House in Washington, D.C., the United States.(Xinhua/Liu Jie)

The U.S. administration under former President Donald Trump withdrew from the JCPOA in May 2018 and unilaterally reimposed sanctions on Iran. In response to the U.S. moves, Iran gradually stopped implementing parts of its JCPOA commitments from May 2019.

Therefore, in the quest for some real progress, Washington must take the first step by lifting all illegal unilateral sanctions against Iran and involved third parties.

Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi said earlier that the United States must "lift all sanctions" before any progress can be made.

His view is also shared by Russia and China, which have repeatedly urged the United States to immediately and completely lift sanctions against Iran.

People work at the construction site of the second phase of Iran's Bushehr Nuclear Power Plant in Bushehr, southern Iran, on Nov. 10, 2019. (Photo by Ahmad Halabisaz/Xinhua)

Removing all illegal unilateral sanctions is "the key to the success of the negotiations," said Wang Qun, Chinese envoy to the United Nations and other international organizations in Vienna.

"All parties must continue to focus on and resolve this core issue first. At the same time, the Joint Commission should also consider how to verify the U.S. lifting of sanctions," Wang added.

Attended by representatives of China, France, Germany, Russia, Britain and Iran, the meeting of the JCPOA Joint Commission began on April 6 in Vienna.

The one who began the trouble should end it. The negotiations have entered a crucial stage, and steps by the United States are of paramount importance to the fate of the historic nuclear deal and future stability of the region and the world.

It is time for Washington to shoulder its global responsibility by taking the first step toward a breakthrough in the nuclear talks.