In this file phot,o US President Joe Biden speaks about foreign policy at the State Department in Washington, DC, on February 4, 2021. (SAUL LOEB / AFP)

WASHINGTON / DUBAI - US President Joe Biden said the United States would not lift sanctions against Iran unless Tehran stops enriching uranium, according to an interview broadcasted on Sunday.

Asked if the United States will lift sanctions first to get Iran back to the negotiating table, Biden said "no" in a Friday interview with CBS News.

Biden also gave an affirmative nod when asked if Iran had to stop enriching uranium first.

Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said on Sunday that Tehran’s “final and irreversible” decision was to return to compliance with the 2015 nuclear deal only if Washington lifts sanctions on the Islamic Republic

Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said on Sunday that Tehran’s “final and irreversible” decision was to return to compliance with the 2015 nuclear deal only if Washington lifts sanctions on the Islamic Republic, Iranian state TV reported.

“Iran has fulfilled all its obligations under the deal, not the United States and the three European countries ... If they want Iran to return to its commitments, the United States must in practice ... lift all sanctions,” state TV quoted Khamenei as saying during a meeting with Air Force commanders.

“Then, after verifying whether all sanctions have been lifted correctly, we will return to full compliance ... It is the irreversible and final decision and all Iranian officials have consensus over it.”

Iran's Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif said Saturday that Iran is losing patience with the new US administration's "recent signals to retain illegal sanctions" on the Islamic Republic, Press TV reported.

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US Secretary of State Antony Blinken had noted that Washington would only return to the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), also known as the Iran nuclear deal, once Tehran meets its commitments, warning of a long road ahead.

The JCPOA was reached in 2015 between Iran and the P5+1 (the five permanent members of the UN Security Council -- the United States, Britain, Russia, France, China, plus Germany) and the European Union. Iran is allowed to enrich uranium within certain limits under the deal.

A senior US official later said Biden meant Iran had to stop enriching beyond the deal’s limits, not that it had to stop enriching entirely before the two sides might talk.

“They have to stop enriching beyond the limits of the JCPOA,” said the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity. “There is nothing changed in the US position. The United States wants Iran to come back into (compliance with) its JCPOA commitments and if it does, the United States will do the same.”

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Iran said last month that it was starting to produce 20 percent enriched uranium, as part of Iran's Strategic Action Plan to Counter Sanctions which was approved by the parliament in December 2020.

Relations between Washington and Tehran have deteriorated since May 2018 when former President Donald Trump pulled his country out of the Iran nuclear deal and reimposed harsh sanctions against Iran. In response, Tehran has gradually dropped some of its JCPOA commitments since May 2019.