US Ban on Aircraft Sales to Iran Breach of JCPOA: Velayati
TEHRAN (Tasnim) – Ali Akbar Velayati, an international adviser to the Leader of the Islamic Revolution, described a recent decision by the US to block sales of commercial aircraft to Iran as a clear violation of the 2015 nuclear deal between Tehran and world powers.
“The US move to ban the sale of aircraft to Iran is definitely a violation of the JCPOA,” Velayati, who is also a member of Iran's supervisory body which monitors the implementation of the nuclear agreement, told reporters in Tehran on Thursday.
Stressing that the Islamic Republic does not need Americans to proceed with its goals, he said that Iran would never buckle under the US pressure and that it has the ability to reach its goals without Washington.
Velayati, also a former Iranian foreign minister, further said that the move once again proved that Washington and its allies are untrustworthy.
Earlier, US House of Representatives voted to block sales of commercial aircraft to Iran. Republican Congressman Peter Roskam said that the US should refrain from selling the aircraft to Iran. He claimed that commercial planes have been used by Iran to support Syria in its war against terrorists.
Roskam offered two amendments to a 2018 government spending package that would specifically prohibit the use of funds to authorize financial transactions for aircraft sales.
Iran’s national flag-carrier airline, Iran Air, has signed a deal with US plane-maker Boeing to buy 80 planes in the wake of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action.
Iran and the Group 5+1 (Russia, China, the US, Britain, France and Germany) reached the 159-page nuclear agreement in July 2015 and implemented it in January 2016.
Since the historic deal was signed in Vienna, the IAEA has repeatedly confirmed the Islamic Republic’s compliance with its commitments under the JCPOA, but some other parties, especially the US, have failed to live up to their undertakings.
