No Constraint on Iran’s Peaceful Nuclear Activities: Shamkhani
TEHRAN (Tasnim) – The secretary of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council ruled out any restriction on the country’s legal right to press on with its peaceful nuclear program after the US administration restored a sanctions waiver that allows cooperation with Tehran on civil nuclear projects.
In a post on his Twitter account on Saturday, Ali Shamkhani reiterated Iran’s inalienable right to enjoy nuclear technology for peaceful purposes.
“Iran's legal right to continue research and development and to maintain its peaceful nuclear capabilities and achievements, along with its security against supported evils, cannot be restricted by any agreement,” he underlined.
His reaction came after US Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Friday signed several sanctions waivers related to the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA).
Former US president Donald Trump unilaterally left the JCPOA in May 2018 and re-imposed the anti-Iran sanctions that the deal had lifted. He also placed additional sanctions on Iran under other pretexts not related to the nuclear case as part of his “maximum pressure” campaign.
A senior US State Department official said the technical discussions facilitated by the waiver are necessary in the final weeks of the Vienna talks, adding that it was not a signal that the US was about to reach an understanding to return to the 2015 deal, according to Reuters.
"Absent this sanctions waiver, detailed technical discussions with third parties regarding disposition of stockpiles and other activities of non-proliferation value cannot take place," the official said.
The Trump administration had ended the so-called “civ-nuke” waivers in May 2020 as part of its “maximum pressure” campaign against Iran.
Iran has declined direct negotiations with the US over Washington's withdrawal from the JCPOA, its illegal sanctions against the country, and its refusal to remove the sanctions despite expressing willingness to rejoin the deal under a new administration.