JCPOA Not Renegotiable: Iranian Nuclear Chief
TEHRAN (Tasnim) – Head of the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran (AEOI) Ali Akbar Salehi reiterated Tehran’s strong opposition to the idea of renegotiation on the 2015 nuclear deal between Tehran and world powers, known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA).
Speaking to the Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting (IRIB) on Thursday, Salehi rejected US calls for the renegotiation of the JCPOA and said, “It has been repeatedly said that the JCPOA is not renegotiable.”
“Some (parties) want the JCPOA to be renegotiated in technical dimensions, but it is not renegotiable,” he said, adding that Russia, China and EU foreign policy chief, Federica Mogherini, had all stressed that the deal is not renegotiable.
He also pointed to the possibility of Washington’s withdrawal from the JCPOA and said if the US leaves the accord and other countries follow suit, Iran will withdraw from the deal and the JCPOA will definitely fall apart.
Salehi added that however, if only the US walks away, the monitoring committee on the JCPOA should make a decision in this regard.
US President Donald Trump has recently denounced the nuclear deal between Tehran and the Group 5+1 (Russia, China, US, Britain, France, and Germany), as “one of the worst deals I've ever seen” and pledged to act on it later in October.
Iran and the six powers reached a conclusion over the text of the nuclear deal in July 2015 and implemented it in January 2016.
Under the agreement, certain limits have been put on Iran’s nuclear activities in exchange for, among other things, the removal of all nuclear-related bans against Tehran.
In all of its reports after coming into force of the JCPOA, the IAEA has verified the non-diversion of declared nuclear material in Iran as well as the Islamic Republic’s commitment to the nuclear deal.
