TEHRAN - The Biden administration has acknowledged that Trump's “maximum pressure” policy against Iran has ended in failure, while Biden has not indicated he intends to redress the former president's wrongs, according to Press TV.

During a press briefing on Thursday, U.S. State Department spokesman Ned Price acknowledged, “The Trump administration’s maximum pressure policy has failed to achieve each and every single one of its aims.”
 
“I think when you look at the results of maximum pressure, you can only be left with one conclusion,” Price said.

“Maximum pressure was supposed to result in a better deal. It was supposed to cow Tehran and its proxies, it was supposed to isolate Iran from the rest of the world, and it was supposed to leave America’s interests in a better position,” he remarked. 

Pointing to the U.S. failed policy under Trump’s administration, he noted, “In every single one of the issues he raised, the opposite has been true.” 

“We came nowhere close to anything resembling a better deal.”

Nevertheless, he still suggested that the Biden administration will continue to pressure Tehran with close cooperation with the U.S.’s allies.

“Now, our approach recognizes that maximum pressure accompanied by the lack of diplomatic engagement got us to where we are,” he said. “That is why we are embarking on a different path, one that prioritizes real, principled, clear-eyed diplomacy – clear-eyed diplomacy with our partners and allies.”

Back in May 2018, Trump unilaterally withdrew the U.S. from the JCPOA reached under his predecessor Barack Obama, describing it the “worst deal ever”, and pledging to press Tehran into negotiating a new deal through a “maximum pressure” campaign that included tough economic sanctions and military provocations.

Iran maintains that the three European parties to the deal, also known as the E3, paid only lip service to Tehran’s calls to safeguard its interests throughout the Trump administration. On the other hand, unlike Trump, the Biden administration has been successful in getting them back to fully support Washington’s position on Iran.

Price explained that during the Trump administration, the U.S. was sitting at the opposite side of the table of its closest European partners and allies.

Regarding recent meeting between the E3 and the U.S.’s top diplomats, he stressed it was “a clear sign that for the first time in years, the United States was on precisely the same page as our closest allies and partners.”

“And with that unanimity, with that cooperation, with those consultations, we enter this phase of diplomacy from a position of strength and we are confident that this is the sort of position of strength that will allow us to achieve our strategic goal,” the U.S. spokesman remarked.

In remarks on Wednesday, Price acknowledged that Iran remained compliant with the JCPOA before the deal was ditched by Trump, and took steps away from the agreement only after the ill-judged measure.

“The IAEA, while the Iran deal, while the JCPOA was in full effect, while Iran was abiding by it, they expressed confidence that Iran was living up to its limits,” he noted, saying, “I suspect if you go and ask them (the IAEA), they will tell you that they were satisfied by Iran’s compliance with the deal.”

EE/PA