Iran Not to Accept Any Sideline Deal to JCPOA, FM Zarif Stresses
TEHRAN (Tasnim) – Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif emphasized that the Islamic Republic will not accept any successor deal to the 2015 nuclear agreement between Tehran and world powers.
“No. Because what is important is for the Europeans to bring the United States into compliance because Iran has been in compliance with the deal. It's been the United States that has failed to comply, particularly,” Zarif, who is currently in New York, told the CBS television network when asked whether the Islamic Republic would accept an add-on deal to the international agreement, known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA).
Heading a high-ranking delegation, the top diplomat has traveled to New York to attend a United Nations General Assembly meeting on peace.
Zarif added, “Well, note President Trump has made it very clear that it is trying to dissuade our economic partners from engaging with Iran and that's a clear violation of the deal. So I think if, if European members of, of the nuclear agreement, the E3, want to make the work, they have to make the deal sustainable and in order to make it sustainable it's not to address the additional demands of the United States but bring the United States in compliance with its obligations already undertaken under the deal.”
Britain, France and Germany are reportedly trying to create the sideline deal in an attempt to appease US President Donald Trump by making permanent the restrictions on Tehran’s ability to produce nuclear fuel.
Trump in January set a 120-day deadline for US lawmakers and European allies to "fix" his predecessor Barack Obama's main foreign policy achievement or face a US exit.
Iran has vehemently rejected the possibility of renegotiation, warning that any hostile action against the accord will jeopardize regional and global peace and security.
Since the historic deal was signed by Tehran and the Group 5+1 (Russia, China, the US, Britain, France and Germany) in Vienna in July 2015, the International Atomic Energy Agency (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.
