Trump Still Undecided on JCPOA: Bolton
TEHRAN (Tasnim) – US President Donald Trump has not yet decided whether to scrap the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), the 2015 nuclear deal between Tehran and world powers, US National Security Advisor John Bolton said.
“He has made no decision on the nuclear deal, whether to stay in or get out,” he told Fox News Sunday.
“He is certainly considering the framework, the four pillars that President (Emmanuel) Macron laid out in their meeting last week," said Bolton, referring to efforts to supplement the Iran deal with additional measures to make it more palatable to Trump.
Iran’s President Hassan Rouhani and other Iranian officials had rejected any possibility of renegotiating the JCPOA or adding any articles to it.
In a telephone conversation with French Macron on Sunday evening, Rouhani said Iran has devised various measures for any possible decision that the US president would make about the JCPOA on May 12.
Slamming the US for violation of the JCPOA, Rouhani made it clear that even if the US administration remains in the nuclear deal but keeps acting the same way as it has over the past two years, it will be still unacceptable to Iran.
He also reiterated that the JCPOA is non-negotiable, adding that Iran will not accept any further commitments beyond the nuclear deal.
Rouhani called the Iran nuclear deal a main basis for building trust between Iran and the West, saying, “Given high capacities for expansion of ties in various political, cultural, economic and regional areas, we are determined to strengthen our relations with France.”
The French president, for his part, said France and other European parties support the JCPOA and Paris will remain in the deal resolutely.
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 the accord, but some other parties, especially the US, have failed to live up to their undertakings.
