The White House announced that President Joe Biden has signed off on extending the “national emergency” regarding Iran for an additional year, affirming the maintenance of comprehensive sanctions against Tehran in response to its threats to American national security.
Biden conveyed a message to Congress regarding the continuation of the law initially signed by former President Bill Clinton on March 15, 1995.
In his message, Biden stated that “the actions and policies of the Iranian government continue to pose an unusual and extraordinary threat to the national security, foreign policy, and economy of the United States.”
This step follows a US warning issued about a week ago of future actions if Tehran persists in “obstructing” the work of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) by refusing to cooperate and failing to provide explanations for activities at undeclared sites.
About a week after a meeting of the IAEA’s Board of Governors, Tehran disclosed a letter sent to the UN-affiliated agency regarding its demand for explanations related to secret sites.
The letter reiterated Iran’s stance that there is no site that needs to be declared under the Safeguards Agreement, criticizing the agency for relying on what it described as “accusations” and “unreliable information” originating from Israel.
The IAEA opened an investigation five years ago into activities not reported by Iran, following Israel’s publication in April 2018 of documents it claimed to have obtained following an operation in Tehran, which it dubbed the “Iranian nuclear archive.”
Iran has attributed the “ambiguity” in the international investigation to accusations primarily from a malicious third party, namely the Israeli regime.
The closure of the investigation was among the critical conditions set by Iran for accepting a draft proposal by the European Union aimed at concluding the nuclear negotiations, which reached an impasse in September 2022.
