White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan has revealed the United States had begun to communicate with Iran over the country'...
White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan has revealed the United States had begun to communicate with Iran over the country's detention of American citizens.
Sullivan made the announcement Sunday during an interview on CBS' Face The Nation, less than two weeks after Secretary of State Antony Blinken stated that the Biden Administration was committed to seeking 'the release of Americans held hostage or wrongfully detained abroad'.
There are currently at least five Americans being held in Iranian custody. Some of those US citizens have been detained in the Middle Eastern country since 2015.
Asked if the Biden administration had started hostage negotiations with Iran, Sullivan told CBS News' 'Face the Nation' that the issue was a 'complete and utter outrage'.
'We have begun to communicate with the Iranians on this issue,' Sullivan said.
White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan has revealed the United States had begun to communicate with Iran over the country's detention of American citizens. President Biden is pictured left, Iran's supreme leader Ali Khamenei is pictured right
'We will not accept a long term proposition where they continue to hold Americans in an unjust and unlawful manner,' he stated.
Ailing 85-year-old Baquer Namazi and his son, Siamak Namazi, are two of the US citizens currently being held in Iran.
In 2016, the pair were sentenced to ten years in prison for spying and cooperating with the United States.
Tensions between the United States and Iran have been escalating since 2018, when the Trump Administration pulled the US out of a 2015 nuclear deal that had been brokered with the Middle Eastern country by President Obama.
Trump has accused both Biden and Obama of being too soft on Iran, but Sullivan said Sunday that the new President believes diplomacy is the best way to prevent Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon.
The US is now willing to start talks on a return to the 2015 nuclear deal agreed between Tehran and several world powers.
Ailing 85-year-old Baquer Namazi and his son, Siamak Namazi, are two of the US citizens currently being held in Iran. In 2016, the pair were sentenced to ten years in prison for spying and cooperating with the United States
Sullivan made the announcement Sunday during an interview on CBS' Face The Nation , less than two weeks after Secretary of State Antony Blinken stated that the Biden Administration was committed to seeking 'the release of Americans held hostage or wrongfully detained abroad'
The State Department, led by Secretary Anthony Blinkin, said Thursday that the US would accept an invitation from the European Union to attend a meeting of the participants in the 2015 original agreement.
Such an invitation has not yet been issued but one is expected shortly, following discussions between Blinken and his British, French and German counterparts.
'The United States would accept an invitation from the European Union High Representative to attend a meeting of the P5+1 and Iran to discuss a diplomatic way forward on Iran´s nuclear program,' State Department spokesman Ned Price said in a statement.
Earlier Thursday, Blinken and the foreign ministers of Britain, Germany and France urged Iran to allow continued United Nations nuclear inspections and stop nuclear activities that have no credible civilian use.
They warned that Iran´s actions could threaten delicate efforts to bring the U.S. back into the 2015 deal and end sanctions damaging Iran's economy.
The State Department, led by Secretary Anthony Blinkin, said Thursday that the US would accept an invitation from the European Union to attend a meeting of the participants in the 2015 original nuclear agreement
The 2015 accord is aimed at preventing Iran from developing nuclear weapons. Tehran denies it is seeking such an arsenal.
In Iran, President Hassan Rouhani expressed hope Thursday that the Biden administration will rejoin the accord and lift the U.S. sanctions that Washington re-imposed under Trump, according to state television.
Tehran has been using its violations of the nuclear deal to put pressure on the remaining signatories - France, Germany, Britain, Russia and China - to provide more incentives to Iran to offset the crippling sanctions.
In Iran, President Hassan Rouhani expressed hope Thursday that the Biden administration will rejoin the accord and lift the U.S. sanctions that Washington re-imposed under Trump, according to state television
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