The seemingly real-life recording, likely filmed Nov. 3 during Biden’s visit to California, shows a woman asking Biden to announce whether the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (the official name of the nuclear deal) no longer exists.
“President Biden, can you announce that the JCPOA is dead?” the woman, wearing a ribbon in the colors of what appears to be the Iranian flag, asks Biden as she shakes hands with several people.
And Biden replies: “No”, to answer: “Why not?”
He adds: “It is in the judgment of the dead, but we will not announce it” and continues: “The story is long”.
The woman and the people next to her urge him not to make deals with the Tehran government.
“They don’t represent us,” he says, while another adds, “They are not our government.”
And Biden replies, “I know they don’t represent you. But they would have a nuclear weapon,” and then the recording ends.
The agreement signed in 2015 provides for the easing of sanctions against Iran in exchange for limiting its nuclear program, to prevent it from developing an atomic bomb, knowing that Tehran has always denied wanting to achieve this goal and has affirmed the tranquility of the his program.
After the United States withdrew from the deal in 2018, Tehran gradually reneged on its commitments.
Biden has pledged to try to revive the deal, but negotiations that began in April 2021 in Vienna have now stalled.
When asked about the tape, White House National Security Council spokesman John Kirby said no one questions its authenticity.
He added that Washington wanted to revive the deal, but it was not a priority because of the war in Ukraine.
“The president’s remarks are very consistent with everything we’ve said about the JCPOA, and that’s not our focus right now,” Kirby told reporters.
And he added: “There is no progress now regarding the deal with Iran. We do not expect any progress at any point in the foreseeable future.”
TRT Arab – Agencies
