“The Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) is not a goal nor a holy verse that we would adhere to under any circumstances,” Major General Baqeri said, addressing a conference on civil defense in Tehran on Monday.
The JCPOA is a multilateral agreement with the Group 5+1 (Russia, China, US, Britain, France, and Germany) that was reached following months of efforts by Iranian diplomats, he added.
One part of the JCPOA includes the acceptance of nuclear restrictions by the Islamic Republic and another part includes the removal of sanctions, the commander noted.
If sanctions are re-imposed under other pretexts, he added, Iran will definitely withdraw from the nuclear deal.
The 159-page nuclear agreement between Iran and the Group 5+1 was reached in July 2015 and came into force in January 2016.
Since the historic deal was signed in Vienna, the International Atomic Energy Agency (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.
The US has even imposed many fresh sanctions against Iran, in flagrant defiance of the JCPOA.
In mid-September, Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyed Ali Khamenei lambasted the US for violating the JCPOA, warning that any “wrong move” concerning the nuclear deal would draw reactions from Iran.