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Iranian military exercise: provocation of neighbors and signal to Washington
Photo: - / AFP
The campaigner Joe Biden had a clear position.
He wanted to "show Tehran a credible path back to diplomacy," he said in September.
As soon as Iran returns to "strictly adhering to the nuclear agreement," Washington will join again and conduct further negotiations on this basis.
But since then the world has turned on.
Biden's predecessor Donald Trump had recently tightened his policy of "maximum pressure" against Iran.
And the rulers in Tehran reacted - with military provocations and violent violations of the nuclear deal.
Entangled in decades of enmity, both states have created facts that the new man in the White House can hardly ignore.
Israel and Saudi Arabia rejected the deal from the start
Nobody doubts that the new US president is in good faith to improve relations with Tehran.
In 2015, when the nuclear deal was signed, he played his part in the diplomatic success as Barack Obama's deputy.
At that time, the Iranian government pledged to freeze its nuclear program, which would make it impossible to build an atomic bomb for a long time.
In return, the contracting parties - including Germany, France and Great Britain - relaxed their sanctions and promised better economic relations.
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