WASHINGTON, 27 June 2021, (TON): A former U.S. official and two people familiar with the matter told Media “the Biden administration is considering lifting sanctions on Iran’s supreme leader as part of negotiations aimed at reviving the 2015 nuclear deal.”

The sources said that U.S. and Iranian negotiators have discussed the possible move in indirect talks in Vienna, as part of a wider set of compromises that would see the United States return to the 2015 pact and Iran once again abide by restrictions on its nuclear program.

“I think that’s definitely an Iranian demand and I think the U.S. is open to it” said Vali Nasr, professor of International Affairs and Middle East Studies at the Johns Hopkins University School of Advanced International Studies who worked as a diplomat in the Obama administration.

In June 2019, after a U.S. drone was shot down by Iranian forces, former President Donald Trump imposed sanctions on the supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, and officials appointed by him.

Experts and former U.S. officials say “banning the ayatollah from travel to the United States or any financial transactions with U.S. companies. The sanctions are almost entirely symbolic, as the supreme leader does not travel abroad and he and his inner circle have no assets in the United States.”