Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei says the United States must first lift all sanctions it has imposed on Tehran after unilaterally withdrawing from a 2015 nuclear deal with Iran before the Islamic Republic would return to full compliance with its its commitments under the deal.

Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei made the remarks in his New Year speech on Sunday one day following his Nowruz congratulatory message during which the Leader designated the new Iranian calendar year as the year of �Production: Support and the Elimination of Obstacles.�

Reflecting on the current standoff between Iran and the US over the implementation of a nuclear deal clinched by Iran and six world powers, officially known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), the Leader emphasized that the so-called �maximum pressure� policy adopted by the former US administration of President Donald Trump toward Iran after leaving the JCPOA has totally failed.
�The previous fool had designed the �maximum pressure� [policy] in order to corner Iran and take Iran to the negotiating table and impose his arrogant demands on a [presumably] �weak� Iran. However, he disappeared [from the political scene] in such a way that both himself and his country were disgraced while the Islamic Iran is standing fast and proud,� Ayatollah Khamenei said.
�They must know that the enemy�s �maximum pressure� [policy] has failed and if the current American government wants to pursue the maximum pressure [policy] again, it will also fail and disappear [from the political scene],� the Leader emphasized.

The Leader stated that Iran�s policy for interaction with other parties to the JCPOA has been announced clearly and Tehran will never give up that policy, because there is consensus on it inside the country.
�Americans must lift all sanctions first and then we will verify and if they are truly lifted, then we will return to our [JCPOA] commitments without any problem. We cannot trust the Americans� promise,� the Leader said.
Referring to recent claims by some American officials that the JCPOA and its conditions must change for the US to return to it, the Leader said, �Yes, conditions are now different from what they were [during Iranian calendar years 13]95 and 96; however, they have not changed in favor of the United States, but in our favor. Iran has become much stronger since 94 (2015). Therefore, if the JCPOA is going to change, it must be in Iran�s favor.�
�You have been facing increasing problems and the fate of this new [US] president is not clear either. We are in no hurry. Yes, we also believe that opportunities must be taken advantage of, but we will show no hurry, because in some cases its risks outweigh the benefits. We acted hastily on the JCPOA,� Ayatollah Khamenei said.
�We are patient and we are doing our job. If they accept the policy that we have explained, well, everything will be alright; if not, this existing situation will continue and there is no problem with it,� the Leader noted.
�We trusted Americans during [tenure of former President Barack] Obama and we took steps that we had to take under the JCPOA, but they did not fulfill their commitments. On paper, they said sanctions were lifted, but any company that wanted to enter into a contract with us was alarmed by their agents that this could be risky... Therefore, we do not trust them and their promise is of no value to us,� Ayatollah Khamenei said.
The future of the JCPOA has been in doubt since the US pulled out of the agreement and imposed the �toughest ever� sanctions on Iran as part of his so-called �maximum pressure,� which tried in vain to force Iran back to the negotiating table for talks on a �better deal.�

Despite throwing verbal support behind the JCPOA, the European parties to the deal � France, Britain and Germany � have succumbed to Washington�s pressure and failed to fulfill their contractual commitments under the agreement to protect Tehran's economic interests.

That promoted Tehran to begin a set of retaliatory measures in several stages as part of its legal rights stipulated in Articles 26 and 36 of the JCPOA. The latest such measure was the halt in the implementation of the Additional Protocol, which was required by the parliament-adopted law.

Joe Biden, the current president of the United States, has spoken of a willingness to return his country to the Iran deal, but, in practice, his administration has so far been sticking with Trump�s futile pressure campaign. Washington says Tehran should return to full compliance with the deal before the US does so.