JCPOA cannot survive if sanction not lifted: Iran
Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi says the only practical way to salvage the 2015 Iran nuclear deal is for Tehran to reap the full benefits of the agreement arising from sanctions-lifting.
“The only basic solution to safeguard the JCPOA (the nuclear
deal, officially known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action) is for Iran
to enjoy the benefits of the agreement with respect to the sanctions-lifting,
which will materialize only through the adoption of practical and tangible
measures by the JCPOA signatories,” Araqchi said on Wednesday.
He described as “constructive” the recent meeting of the
JCPOA Joint Commission and praised the consensus of the remaining JCPOA
signatories on the need to take a united action against the US’ reneging on its
obligations stipulated in the historic accord.
The meeting was held under specific conditions amid the
developments at the UN Security Council regarding the JCPOA and the US’ illegal
and unjustifiable moves to extend an arms embargo against Tehran and to snap
back international sanctions against Iran, the Iranian diplomat said.
Therefore, the agenda of the JCPOA Joint Commission focused
on the need for solidarity and coherence against the US move, he added.
Araqchi said that the JCPOA Joint Commission members “were
unanimous in their belief that the US has ceased its participation in the JCPOA
since May 8, 2018 and is no more considered a party to the agreement, and
therefore cannot use the rights enshrined in the JCPOA, including those that would
reinstate sanctions.”
The meeting of the JCPOA Joint Commission was co-chaired by
Araqchi and European External Action Service Secretary General Helga Maria
Schmid in Vienna, Austria, on Tuesday.
In a post on her Twitter account at the end of the talks,
Schmid wrote that it was “important” that the participants — Iran, France,
Britain, Germany, Russia and China — were “united in resolve to preserve” the
nuclear deal.
She added that the parties were also determined to “find a
way to ensure full implementation of the agreement despite current challenges.”
Since its withdrawal from the JCPOA, the US has been
resorting to its so-called maximum pressure policy, threatening them to end
their business with the Islamic Republic or face punishment.
As part of its maximum pressure policy, Washington has been
trying to invoke the snapback mechanism in the JCPOA to reinstate international
sanctions against Tehran irrespective of the fact that it has forfeited its
right to use the privilege as it is no more a party to the agreement.
Iranian President Hassan Rouhani on Wednesday dismissed the
US push to trigger the mechanism.
“I don’t think that anyone who is cognizant of the ABC of
law and politics and accepts the ABC of interaction does not realize this that
if one completely left an agreement he cannot return to it after two or three
years and claim that I want to use this privilege. All understand this even a
child,” he said during a cabinet meeting.
Rouhani noted the US claim that it can use the sanctions
snapback mechanism against Iran has domestic consumption and is part of a
propaganda campaign ahead of the November presidential election in the country.
BS
