Iran’s FM to Pen New Letter to JCPOA Joint Commission over Trump’s Remarks
TEHRAN (Tasnim) – Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif said he plans to send a letter to the JCPOA joint commission, a group tasked with monitoring commitments to a nuclear deal between Tehran and six world powers, over US President Donald Trump’s recent remarks against the deal.
“The letter published in the Middle East Eye (on October 14) was addressed to all members (of the commission),” Zarif said speaking at a television talk show on Saturday night.
Since last summer, Iran has penned nine letters to the commission about the US failure in honoring its obligations under the 2015 nuclear deal between Tehran and world powers, he added.
Two months into the new Trump administration, Zarif warned that Washington's behavior towards the nuclear deal threatened to "render the entire bargain meaningless," according to a copy of a letter obtained by Middle East Eye.
In the letter, addressed to European Union Foreign Policy Chief Federica Mogherini, the Iranian minister wrote, "Iran cannot afford to keep implementing the deal unilaterally while a key participant persists in its systematic violation of key provisions of the JCPOA by invoking irrelevant, extraneous and unfounded excuses”.
Zarif said he would soon write another letter to the JCPOA joint commission to reject Trump’s latest claims about the deal.
He added that the choice of pulling out of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action 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.
“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,” Zarif said.
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.
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.
