US JCPOA Exit Double-Win for Iran: Lawmaker
TEHRAN (Tasnim) – Iranian Parliament Vice-Speaker Ali Motahhari shrugged off Washington’s possible move to leave the 2015 nuclear deal, known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), and said such a move would be a “double win” for the Islamic Republic.
“The US withdrawal from the JCPOA would be a double-win (for Iran),” Motahhari said during an open session of the parliament on Sunday.
In case Washington leaves the nuclear deal, on the one hand it will lose its international position and, on the other, Iran would no longer be obliged to fulfill its undertakings under the JCPOA, the lawmaker stated.
US officials have referred to Iran’s missile power and its regional influence as pretexts to withdraw from the deal, he said, adding, “Does the US allow us to decide on its missile power?””
The remarks came as French President Emmanuel Macron and US President Donald Trump have recently indicated they want to aim for a new deal to curb Iran's ballistic missiles program that would run alongside the existing international nuclear pact.
Iran has repeatedly underlined that test of missiles is an issue relating to the defense of its territorial integrity and has nothing to do with the JCPOA.
Trump in January set a 120-day deadline for US lawmakers and European allies to “fix” the JCPOA or face a US exit from his predecessor Barack Obama's main foreign policy achievement.
Since the historic deal was signed by Tehran and the Group 5+1 (Russia, China, the US, Britain, France and Germany) in Vienna in July 2015, 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.
