Exiting JCPOA A Viable Option for Iran: Zarif


Exiting JCPOA A Viable Option for Iran: Zarif

TEHRAN (Tasnim) – The choice of pulling out of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) will remain a viable option for Iran if Tehran feels that the other side has fallen short of its promises to remove the sanctions under the nuclear deal, Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif said.

Speaking at a television talk show on Saturday night, Zarif said both the previous and the current US administrations have committed violations of the JCPOA, the nuclear agreement between Iran and the Group 5+1 (Russia, China, the US, Britain, France and Germany), but Iran’s benefits from the deal have outstripped those violations.

“Whenever Iran feels that the other side’s measures to lift the sanctions are not sufficient, it can make its own choice, and pulling out of the JCPOA is one of those options,” the minister added.

He further noted that US President Donald Trump’s Friday speech against Iran and the JCPOA made Washington more isolated.

Trump is in no position to verify Iran’s compliance with the nuclear deal, he added.

“The American domestic regulations are not credible for us and the US is required to remain committed to its international commitments. The JCPOA is not an agreement between Iran and the US to need Congress certification,” Zarif said.

Speaking from the White House on Friday, Trump said he would not recertify that Tehran is complying with the 2015 nuclear agreement.

The president is required by US law to certify every 90 days whether or not Iran is complying with the nuclear deal. He has certified the deal twice since coming to office.

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