JCPOA Not Renegotiable, Trump Making ‘Desperate’ Attempt: Iran's Zarif
TEHRAN (Tasnim) – Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif described US President Donald Trump’s recent statement on Iran's nuclear sanctions waiver as a “desperate” attempt to undermine the 2015 nuclear deal between Tehran and world powers, stressing that the agreement is not renegotiable.
On Friday, Trump again waived sanctions against Iran that were lifted as part of the landmark nuclear deal, also known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA).
"Today, I am waiving the application of certain nuclear sanctions, but only in order to secure our European allies' agreement to fix the terrible flaws of the Iran nuclear deal," he said in the statement.
He further claimed, "This is a last chance. In the absence of such an agreement, the United States will not again waive sanctions in order to stay in the Iran nuclear deal. And if at any time I judge that such an agreement is not within reach, I will withdraw from the deal immediately. No one should doubt my word."
In reply, Zarif took to Twitter on Friday to condemn Trump’s reluctant announcement on the nuclear sanctions waiver, saying, “Trump's policy & today’s announcement amount to desperate attempts to undermine a solid multilateral agreement, maliciously violating its paras 26, 28 & 29."
He further stressed that the deal is “not renegotiable” and urged Trump to, instead of repeating tired rhetoric, bring the US into full compliance of the deal, just like Iran.
In his speech on Friday, the US president called on all of the country's allies to counter the Islamic Republic's "other malign activities," cut off funding to Iran's Islamic Revolution Guard Corps (IRGC), designate Lebanon's Hezbollah resistance movement as a "terrorist organization."
His statement came a day after the European Union’s foreign policy chief, Federica Mogherini, together with foreign ministers of France, the UK and Germany delivered a strong defense of the deal in separate statements, which were issued following a meeting with Zarif in Brussels.
Iran and the Group 5+1 (Russia, China, the US, Britain, France, and Germany) 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 Iran’s compliance with its commitments under the JCPOA, but some other parties, especially the US, have failed to live up to their undertakings.