Iran refuses to abandon avenging Soleimani despite U.S. offers

Reuters -April 21 2022

DUBAI, April 21 (Reuters) – Iran will not abandon plans to avenge the 2020 U.S. killing of Quds Force Commander Qassem Soleimani, despite “regular offers” from Washington to lift sanctions and provide other concessions in return, a top Iranian official said on Thursday.

Over the last year, Iran and the United States have engaged in fitful, indirect talks in Vienna to revive a 2015 nuclear deal that then-President Donald Trump reneged on in 2018 and that Iran, in turn, began violating in 2019.

Under the 2015 Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), Iran agreed to limit its nuclear programme in return for relief from economic sanctions.

While they appeared close to resurrecting the deal in March, talks stalled over last-minute Russian demands and whether Washington might drop Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), which includes the Quds Force, from its Foreign Terrorist Organization (FTO) list.