Per multiple sources, the "Senior State Department Official" quoted in this transcript is Special Envoy for Iran Rob Malley. He makes a number of false and unsubstantiated claims and troubling remarks throughout the press briefing. (1/9) https://www.state.gov/briefing-with-senior-state-department-official-on-recent-u-s-engagement-in-vienna-regarding-the-jcpoa-2/

First, he claims that the last admin "deliberately imposed sanctions by invoking terrorism labels and other labels even though it was done purely for the purpose of preventing or hindering a return to the – compliance with the JCPOA."

Sanctions simply don't work that way. (2/9)

Any sanctions package has to receive approval from DOJ lawyers (none of whom are political appointees) for their legal basis. Entities targeted for terrorism sanctions have a particularly high legal threshold - indeed it would be irresponsible not to sanction these actors. (3/9)

As @MorganOrtagus notes, these individuals and entities (like Central Bank of Iran) are STILL engaging in this behavior supporting terrorism and have zero intention of stopping. The USG can't just remove them because they are inconvenient to some grand scheme. (4/9)

Malley says they have to go through every sanction to make sure whether they were legitimately or not legitimately imposed.

Spoiler: Every single one was legitimately imposed, otherwise the lawyers would have struck them down in the interagency legal process. (5/9)

This one's bad and revealing. He says "the goal here is to come back into compliance with the JCPOA, all of the JCPOA, and nothing but the JCPOA."

So much for "longer and stronger". Back to a deal that's already expired and gives Iran a clean path to a nuke in 10 years! (6/9)

Malley discussed lifting sanctions, says "We will have lifted the sanctions and Iran will have to then decide if...it thinks its need are being met [or if] it wants to leave the deal."

When we lift sanctions, Iran gets a $90B payday. Malley says Iran can just walk away. (7/9)

Malley then claims without proof that Maximum Pressure made things worse in the region. That would be to ignore the immense Iranian malign activity *during* the JCPOA and its negotiation. Here's a little list in case you've forgotten: (8/9)

Wow, this list needs three whole new pages to list what Iran was doing in the phenomenal JCPOA! But according to Malley, everything Iran has done in the last three years was the fault of withdrawing from the JCPOA. (9/9)