TEHRAN – Foreign Ministry spokesman Saeed Khatibzadeh says Tehran has provided a list of the wrongdoings made by the Trump administration against Iran that the new U.S. president must compensate.

“A list of items has been made that the new U.S. president must respond to with regard to commitments toward Iran,” Khatibzadeh told Al-Alam TV on Sunday, adding that the U.S. has no option but to respect the Iranian nation and return to its commitments under the 2015 nuclear deal, officially called the JCPOA.

He said the U.S. is in no position to set conditions for Iran, because it has illegally dealt a great blow to the Iranian economy.

 “Actually, the United States of America is not in a position to set conditions for anybody. The United States of American has been the violator of the JCPOA, violator of (UN) Security Council Resolution 2231, caused billions of dollars in losses and left the JCPOA as a participant.  The day a government in the United States wants to return to the JCPOA there is a table that it must be held accountable for violation of commitments,” Khatibzadeh explained.

“The United States must repent and stop its economic war against us… honor its obligations and make compensations,” he said.

The spokesman added, “The difference between the Biden and Trump camps are clear but we’re eyeing practical measures.”

Tensions soared between Tehran and Washington since Trump unilaterally withdrew the U.S. from the nuclear deal on May 8, 2018. Trump not only exited the deal but has since targeted Iran with a series of unprecedented economic bans under his “maximum pressure” campaign against Iran.
On Tuesday, Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif said the statements by Joe Biden with regard to Iran have been more promising than those of the incumbent Trump.

"The statements by the Biden camp have been more promising, but we will have to wait and see," Zarif said in an interview with CBS News.
He made the remarks when pushed to pick one of the two U.S. presidential candidates. Zarif initially insisted that Tehran has no preference between Trump or Biden.

Zarif emphasized that it's not what the new administration says during the campaign that counts, but what it does in office.

"What is important for us is how the White House behaves after the election, not what promises are there, what slogans are made. The behavior of the U.S. is important. If the U.S. decides to stop its malign behavior against Iran, then it will be a different story no matter who sits in the White House," the chief Iranian diplomat said.

In remarks on Thursday, President Hassan Rouhani described as “unprecedented in Iran’s history,” the hardship that came to face Iran during Trump’s tenure in terms of the American economic war and the outbreak of the new coronavirus. 
The country has always been struggling with economic hardship but never an economic war of such scale, he added.

The Trump administration brutally escalated the economic war against Iran even as the Islamic Republic was battling an uphill struggle against the novel coronavirus, Rouhani said.

"Our nation both withstood the coronavirus and confronted sanctions and adversities," he added.
The president also pointed out that the Iranian people managed to stand tall notwithstanding the hard times, saying, "I’m under no illusion about the government and people’s success."

MH/PA