Washington’s Ill Will Biggest Challenge to JCPOA: Iranian Diplomat
TEHRAN (Tasnim) – Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister for Legal and International Affairs Abbas Araqchi said “the ill will” shown by the US administrations has been the biggest challenge to the 2015 nuclear deal, known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA).
Speaking at an open session of the parliament on Wednesday, Araqchi briefed the lawmakers on the Foreign Ministry’s measures regarding the JCPOA implementation.
Since the nuclear agreement took effect, the ministry has submitted weekly reports to relevant authorities about the implementation process of the deal, he noted.
He further pointed to US moves to hamper the process, saying, “The US’s ill will in implementation of the JCPOA, both in the previous and current US administrations, has been our biggest challenge regarding the JCPOA.”
The 159-page nuclear agreement between Iran and the Group 5+1 (Russia, China, the US, Britain, France, and Germany) was reached in July 2015 and came into force 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.
In a major confrontational stance against Iran on October 13, US President Donald Trump refused to certify the multilateral deal on Tehran’s peaceful nuclear program.
Speaking from the White House, Trump said he will choose not to certify that Tehran is complying with the agreement.