Pulling out from JCPOA on agenda: Araghchi

TEHRAN– Deputy Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said that while Iran’s countermeasures are still within the framework of the nuclear deal, the option to withdraw from JCPOA is on Iran’s agenda should the remaining parties fail to comply with their commitments.

Addressing the country’s Wednesday decisions about the nuclear deal, the deputy minister said that the decisions cannot be translated as Iran’s violation of JCPOA or pulling out of it.

“We have scaled down our commitments to JCPOA. This is our right to do so. We take advantage of the instruments included in the nuclear deal to remain in JCPOA but we have leaving the deal on agenda but we will do that gradually,” he explained.

“The other side knows our demands and what they should do. President Rouhani described it in his letter to them. If they seek to reactivate the UN Security Council resolution, they are informed of what we will do. Those resolutions are our redlines,” the senior official added, Mehr News Agency reported.

“It is about two years that Iran has been coping with Trump and the extremist US government, who believe in JCPOA as the worst agreement in US history that has allowed Iran to expand its authority in the region, sell oil freely and fortify its economy under it. The US, in addition, has withdrawn from chapter VII of Security Council,” he said.

Araghchi explained that Trump was primarily resolved to make Iran pull out of JCPOA but when he failed to achieve that, he left the agreement eventually and re-imposed sanctions.

It is almost a year that the US is out of the nuclear agreement and Iran has given Europeans, China and Russia enough time to compensate the US-led sanctions, he added.

Describing the stance of 4+1 countries, he said that “China and Russia have had a definite reaction. As Lavrov said today’s situation is the result of the US policies. Chinese are assessing the conditions and they know that Iran is right.”

“Europeans could not protect our economic benefits but regarding political issues they stood against the US and that is valuable. We are waiting for them to announce their clear stance after their meeting on Thursday,” Araghchi added.

He reiterated that Iran wants full implementation of the JCPOA and will not hold new round of talks in this regard.

President Hassan Rouhani said on Wednesday that Iran will stop selling its enriched uranium and heavy water in a reciprocal act to the US’ withdrawal from the 2015 nuclear deal and reimposition of sanctions.

The president noted that the decision “does not mean that Iran will leave the nuclear agreement.”

Rouhani said Iran will give a 60-day moratorium to the remaining parties to the deal to remedy the breaches and preserve Iran’s interests enshrined by JCPOA.

He further said that the European signatories to the deal were doing well in lip service, but they were unable to implement what they vowed.

On the same day, Araghchi presented President Rouhani’s letter on ‘reducing Iran’s commitments to the nuclear deal’ to the ambassadors of the remaining parties to the JCPOA.

The letter contained the decision of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council to stop the implementation of some parts of commitments of the Islamic Republic of Iran under the JCPOA.

Also, in another letter submitted by Iranian Foreign Minister Zarif to EU’s foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini, the EU’s high representative was informed of the details of Iran’s measures in response to the US’ withdrawal from the agreement and its increasing pressure and restrictions against the Islamic Republic since May 2018.

M.Wassouf