JCPOA Litmus Test for US: Iran’s Speaker
TEHRAN (Tasnim) – Iran's Parliament Speaker Ali Larijani said implementation of a lasting nuclear deal between Tehran and the Group 5+1 (Russia, China, the US, Britain, France and Germany) will demonstrate whether Washington honors its commitments or not.
“If the US does not honor its commitments, we will also make our own decision in this regard,” Larijani said of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), a final nuclear deal between Iran and the six powers whose text was finalized in Vienna on July 14.
The Iranian speaker made the comments in an interview with National Public Radio (NPR) in New York on Thursday.
Larijani noted that Iran well knows how to treat those “who want to ruin the nuclear deal.”
The top Iranian official said he is a supporter of the JCPOA and believes that the document could be used for the next steps in the future.
Elsewhere in the interview with NPR's Steve Inskeep, Larijani raised the possibility of prisoner swap with the US, when asked about release of Washington Post reporter Jason Rezaian, who is jailed in Iran.
Here's Thursday's exchange, according to NPR’s website:
Inskeep: Can you see a practical way that Iran's government could release Jason Rezaian and other Americans who've been held in Iran for months or years?
Larijani: There are practical ways of course. For example, there is a number of Iranians in prison here (in the US). Definitely for matters of this sort, one can come up with solutions. I think your politicians know about those ways.
Inskeep: There was an occasion recently with Cuba where the United States exchanged prisoners with Cuba. Is that what you're suggesting?
Larijani: That's one way. There are other ways that the judiciary systems of the two countries can come up with. It is the judiciary that has to decide about it.
Rezaian, a 39-year-old correspondent with dual Iran-US citizenships, along with his wife Yeganeh Salehi were arrested in Tehran on July 22, 2014 on espionage charges.
Two other American citizens also detained along with them work as freelance photojournalists. Yeganeh Salehi was released on bail in October 2014.
An indictment issued by Tehran’s prosecutor general says Rezaian is charged with “espionage by collecting the country’s decisions on the issues of internal and foreign policy, and cooperation with the hostile governments.”
