According to the British media Reuters, the originally tense US-Iran relations have made waves again a few days ago. On April 10, Iran's Foreign Ministry announced that sanctions were imposed on 24 Americans for "supporting terrorism and violating human rights", specifically the sanctioned Americans, which prevented Iran from obtaining medicines, medical services and equipment and other anti-epidemic materials, which deprived the Iranian people of their basic right to live.
Especially during the COVID-19 epidemic, many Iranians are facing a shortage of anti-epidemic materials, and the US sanctions have endangered the lives of Iranian people. In addition, some of the Americans who have been sanctioned have long supported some terrorist activities against Iran, which has seriously endangered Iran's interests.
According to the specific list released by the Iranian Foreign Ministry, the Americans who were sanctioned this time include George Casey, former chief of staff of the US Army, and Joseph Waterer, former commander of the US Central Command.
It is reported that sanctioned Americans will not be able to enter Iran, and all their assets in Iran will be frozen or confiscated. However, the Americans on the sanctions list have little need to travel to Iran, and there are no assets in Iran, so the symbolism of the sanctions is greater than the actual significance.
Obviously, Iran's move is a countermeasure to the United States. At the end of March, the United States suddenly changed its face and announced sanctions against one iranian entity and several entities, including a Iranian citizen named Mohammad Husseini and four companies he manages, accused by the U.S. Treasury Department of having close business dealings with Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, allegedly providing the latter with the technology and raw materials needed to develop its ballistic missile program.
Iran's Foreign Ministry said that the new sanctions action of the United States is another manifestation of the White House's malice towardS Tehran, and it is also a continuation of the policy of maximum pressure on Iraq, so Tehran is not prepared to be polite anymore!
The mutual sanctions imposed by the United States and Iran will certainly have a negative impact on the ongoing negotiations on the Iranian nuclear issue. In July 2015, Iran reached a comprehensive agreement with the United States, Russia, China, the United Kingdom, France, and Germany on the nuclear issue. According to the agreement, Iran promised to strictly limit the nuclear program, the existing nuclear energy development and utilization activities are limited to civilian use, will not be used for military purposes, in exchange, the United States and other countries will lift sanctions on Iran.
After the agreement was reached, Iran actively fulfilled its obligations under the agreement, but the United States did not keep its promises. In May 2018, then-US President Trump unilaterally announced his withdrawal from the JCPOA and resumed comprehensive sanctions against Iran on the grounds that Iran had violated relevant provisions of the JCPOA.
In response, Iran announced in May 2019 that it would gradually suspend the implementation of some of the provisions of the JCPOA, but if the United States lifted sanctions, Iran would re-fulfill its obligations.
After Biden took office last January, the Iranian nuclear issue ushered in a turning point, and the White House repeatedly expressed its willingness to return to the Iranian nuclear agreement. Under the impetus of the European Union, in April last year, the Negotiations on the Iranian nuclear issue were restarted, and the focus of the negotiations was on the resumption of the implementation of the treaty by the United States and Iran, and the United States indirectly participated in the negotiations. It is reported that after several rounds of negotiations, the Iranian nuclear issue has re-emerged.
In late March this year, Iranian Foreign Minister Abdullah Shiyan said in an interview with the media in Damascus, the Syrian capital, that the negotiations between the parties to the JCPOA are close to reaching a final agreement.
However, the latest news shows that the Iranian nuclear negotiations have been recently suspended, and the EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Borrell said that the reason for the suspension is "external factors", which is somewhat vague.
In this regard, Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Saeed Khatibzadeh made it clear that the fundamental responsibility for the suspension of negotiations on the Iranian nuclear issue lies with the United States. According to Reuters, Iran's demands include the lifting of sanctions imposed on Iran by the United States, the withdrawal of the identification of the "terrorist organization" of Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, and the withdrawal from the Iranian nuclear agreement, but in the face of Iran's demands, the United States hesitated and refused to agree.
The outside world believes that the reason why the United States is slow to accede to Iran's demands is mainly to take into account the feelings of its ally Israel.
For a long time, Israel's position on the Iranian nuclear issue has been very strong, in its view, restricting Iran's development and use of nuclear energy will not fundamentally eliminate the potential nuclear threat posed by Iran to the countries in the Middle East, and the best way is to destroy all Iranian nuclear facilities, but Iran will certainly not agree.
As America's most important ally in the Middle East, Israel's position must be considered by the White House. From the current point of view, if Israel does not relax, the United States and Iran may find it difficult to reach an agreement on the resumption of implementation of the treaty. The imposition of sanctions by the two sides will only exacerbate the Iranian nuclear crisis and plunge the situation in the Middle East into turmoil again.