Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei called for “action, not words” from the United States in order to bring the 2015 nuclear deal back into force.
“We have heard many nice words and promises, which in practice have been broken and opposite actions have been taken,” Khamenei said in a nationally televised address on Wednesday. “Words and promises are no good. This time only action. If we see action from the other side, we will also act. The Islamic Republic will not be satisfied with promises of actions.”
Iran announced earlier this week that beginning on Feb. 23 it would not allow short-notice nuclear inspections, provided for under the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, the nuclear deal it signed with the world powers in 2015. The United States left the deal in 2018 and reimposed crippling sanctions on the Islamic Republic. Iran has been breaching parts of the deal in recent months, including enriching uranium at high levels. It has called on the United States to lift sanctions before it reverses its nuclear deal breaches.