Iran to Withdraw from JCPOA if Costs Exceed Benefits: Deputy FM
TEHRAN (Tasnim) – Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi said Tehran would not hesitate to withdraw from the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) as soon as it feels that the advantages of the nuclear deal fall behind its costs and disadvantages.
“The Islamic Republic of Iran will honor the JCPOA as long as it enjoys the benefits of the JCPOA,” Araqchi said at a television talks show on Saturday night, saying whenever the costs and disadvantages of the nuclear deal outstrip its benefits, Tehran will not hesitate about withdrawing from the accord.
Denouncing the US government for impeding the implementation of the JCPOA, its plan to scrap the deal, and its attempts to hold Iran accountable for the failure of the agreement, Araqchi said the US is seeking to irritate Iran or to diminish the benefits of the JCPOA to the extent that Iran would itself decide to get out of the deal.
However, he underlined, Iran will definitely show a “smart and calculated response” to the US.
“We would not play in Trump’s ground, and will certainly not take any measure to be deprived of advantages of the JCPOA by our own hands,” the senior diplomat added.
Araqchi reiterated that the US has already violated articles 26, 28 and 29 of the JCPOA, the 2015 nuclear agreement between Iran and the Group 5+1 (Russia, China, the US, Britain, France and Germany).
His comments came after the US Senate voted overwhelmingly to impose new sanctions against Iran, Russia and North Korea on Thursday.
The Republican-controlled House of Representatives had passed the bill on Tuesday in a 419-3 vote.
Iran and the Group 5+1 reached the 159-page nuclear agreement in July 2015 and implemented it in January 2016.
Since the historic deal was signed in Vienna, the IAEA has repeatedly confirmed the Islamic Republic’s compliance with its commitments under the JCPOA, but some other parties, especially the US, have failed to live up to their undertakings.