Reactivation of JCPOA Hinges of Removal of US Sanctions: Rouhani
TEHRAN (Tasnim) – Iranian President Hassan Rouhani said the 2015 nuclear deal would get rolling again only if the US lifts the sanctions on Iran and all parties to the multilateral agreement honor their commitments.
In a meeting with Irish Minister for Foreign Affairs Simon Coveney, held in Tehran on Sunday, Rouhani reiterated that reactivation of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action as a multilateral agreement depends on the termination of the US sanctions and fulfillment of commitment by all parties.
The president also deplored Europe’s inaction and failure to honor the nuclear deal, adding, “The Islamic Republic of Iran has been committed to the JCPOA and saving it, and is the only party that has paid a price for it.”
He also reiterated that Iran will resume honoring the JCPOA as soon as the US lifts the illegal sanctions and abandons the policy of threats and pressures.
Pointing to Ireland’s membership in the UN Security Council and the European country’s evenhanded approach, Rouhani said, “The Security Council should have acted properly against the previous US administration because of its violation of the (UNSC) Resolution (2231).”
Expressing Iran’s readiness for cooperation with the international organizations in the settlement of regional crises, the president said the best way to work with Europeans to resolve the problems at the bilateral, regional and international levels is “negotiations on the basis of mutual respect and the avoidance of any threat and pressure.”
He also called for the expansion of economic and trade ties between Tehran and Dublin, saying the two states have great potential in various fields that must be employed.
For his part, Coveney said Ireland, a non-permanent UNSC member for the next two years, can facilitate the implementation of the JCPOA and the UNSC Resolution 2231.
Deploring the previous US administration’s withdrawal from the nuclear deal as a historic mistake, the Irish foreign minister described the JCPOA as a valuable international agreement contributing to peace.
Ireland would do its utmost to save the JCPOA and is ready to play any possible role in the improvement of situation and the restart of negotiations among all JCPOA parties, Coveney noted.
In remarks in February, Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyed Ali Khamenei said Iran will resume honoring the JCPOA in full only after the US has removed all sanctions on Tehran in a practical and verifiable manner.
The JCPOA was signed in 2015 between Iran and six world states —the US, Germany, France, Britain, Russia and China— and was ratified in the form of Resolution 2231.
However, former US president Donald Trump unilaterally pulled Washington out of the JCPOA in May 2018 and reinstated the sanctions that had been lifted by the deal.
In May 2019, Iran began to scale back its JCPOA commitments after the remaining European parties failed to fulfill their end of the bargain and compensate for Washington’s absence.
