Biden says US won't lift sanctions until Iran stops enriching Uranium

U.S. President Joe Biden walks across the South Lawn as he departs the White House to spend the weekend in Delaware in Washington, DC., on February 05, 2021. /Getty

U.S. President Joe Biden on Sunday said his administration will not lift sanctions against Iran to revive negotiations, saying the Middle Eastern country needs to stop enriching uranium first.

Biden made the remark in an interview with CBS, which came following Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei stand that Tehran would not return to the negotiating table until Washington lifts the sanctions.

The Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), signed in 2015 by Iran and six world powers, including the United States, allows United Nations inspectors from the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) to carry out more intrusive inspections of Iran's nuclear program.

Under the JCPOA, the United States, Russia, China, Germany, Britain and France agreed in 2015 to the deal with Iran that prevents Tehran from developing nuclear weapons in return for sanctions relief.

Former U.S. President Donald Trump however pulled out of the pact in 2018 and reimposed sanctions, saying the agreement did not do enough to contain Tehran's missile program and regional influence.