USNSC Official: Pressure to Continue on Iran

By Staff- Agencies

US National Security Council [NSC] coordinator for the Middle East and North Africa Brett McGurk stressed that “Washington will not take pressure off until Iran’s nuclear program is capped and its remedial measures are reversed.”

Speaking to American Jewish leaders on Friday McGurk underlined that Washington would remove no sanctions before it got commitments on the American demands.

“Until we get somewhere and until we have a firm commitment, and it’s very clear that Iran’s nuclear program is going to be capped, the problematic aspects reversed and back in a box, we are not going to take any of the pressure off,” he said.

McGurk said, “There’s a very long way to go and this process is complicated.”

The US is “not going to pay anything upfront just to get a process going. We have to see from the Iranians a fundamental commitment and agreement to put their nuclear program back in a box that we can fully inspect and observe,” he added.

Iranian officials, however, have warned that Tehran would not accept "attritional negotiations".

As the Biden administration engage in efforts to bring Washington into line, Republicans in Congress are using their legislative and oversight authority to hamper the push.

On Wednesday, Congressional Republicans unveiled what they described as the largest package of anti-Iran sanctions in history.

The legislation, dubbed the Maximum Pressure Act, would formally codify for President Donald Trump administration's sanctions campaign on Iran and force the Biden government to submit any decision to Congress for review before it is approved.

According to the Washington Free Beacon, the Republicans seek to make clear that any decision to remove the sanctions "will not last beyond Biden’s term in office".