Iran UN Envoy Urges Full Implementation of JCPOA

In remarks at a statement on “Non-Proliferation: implementation of Security Council resolution 2231” during a UN Security Council’s session on Tuesday, Majid Takht Ravanchi said the attempts to link the JCPOA’s implementation to extraneous issues or raising ideas such as the renegotiation of the JCPOA to expand its scope or extend its timelines or proposals like more for more or less for less are totally unacceptable and doomed to fail.

What follows is the full text of his statement:

“In the Name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful.

Mr. President,

It is heartening that today, the Council, once again, is expressing its consistent position that the JCPOA must be restored and implemented in full.

This, however, can be realized only if all necessary conditions are met in real terms.

Make no mistake! We are not imposing any preconditions or new conditions.

We are talking about the same conditions that are embedded in the JCPOA and resolution 2231; the same conditions that form the very foundations of the JCPOA; and the same conditions that resulted in reciprocal commitments of the parties in the JCPOA.

Without full satisfaction of these conditions, the accord is useless for the Iranian people. We, therefore, call for the full, timely, unconditional and verifiable implementation of the JCPOA; no more, no less.

Attempts to link the JCPOA’s implementation to extraneous issues or raising ideas such as the renegotiation of the JCPOA to expand its scope or extend its timelines or proposals like more for more or less for less are totally unacceptable and doomed to fail.

Let’s refresh our memory with a flashback to the underlying causes for the current situation. The JCPOA is founded on two pillars: Iran’s nuclear-related commitments and the reciprocal commitments for the lifting of UN, EU and US sanctions against Iran as well as promoting normal economic and trade relations with our country. All these commitments are meticulously worded and explained in detail in the JCPOA and resolution 2231.

In accordance with the JCPOA, other parties are committed, and I quote, “to ensure Iran’s access in areas of trade, technology, finance and energy”, end of quote. Specifically, the United States, in addition to its obligation to lift sanctions against Iran, is explicitly committed, and I quote, to “make best efforts in good faith to sustain this JCPOA and to prevent interference with the realization of the full benefit by Iran of the sanctions lifting”, end of quote. The fact is that we have been completely deprived of our rights and benefits under the JCPOA for almost four years.

Now, certain States try to deceptively portray our insistence on the full and verifiable restoration of our rights as an unconstructive and inflexible position. At the same time, they are dead silent about the unlawful and inhumane sanctions of the United States, which, by any measure, is an all-out economic war against Iran, aimed at collectively punishing an entire nation, targeting the most vulnerable people the most, harming the poor more than the rich, the ill people more than the healthy ones, and infants and children more than adults. These acts are indeed equivalent to economic terrorism.

In this regard, the UN Special Rapporteur on the negative impact of the unilateral coercive measures calls the US sanctions “unjust and harmful”, “destroying the economy and currency of Iran, driving millions of people into poverty and making imported goods unaffordable, including “urgently needed humanitarian goods”.

Mr. President,

The United States has committed multiple cases of “significant non-performance” under the JCPOA and still is in continuous systematic material breach of its legal obligations under resolution 2231, the UN Charter and international law. It is also in defiance of the unanimous order of the International Court of Justice of 3 October 2018, requiring the US to remove impediments to humanitarian trade with Iran.

As a result of such gross violations of international law, the scope and extent of the damage to the Iranian people and economy is severe, resulting in the loss of many lives as well as a vast serious disruption in our economy.

The US has also exerted unprecedented pressures on other States either not to implement their obligations under resolution 2231 or face punishment. This is unprecedented in the Security Council’s history.

While we have taken certain remedial measures in accordance with the JCPOA to re-establish some balance in the reciprocal commitments and benefits under the accord, certain States refer, with much fanfare, to Iran’s remedial measures in a manner as if it was Iran that withdrew from the JCPOA and re-imposed or introduced countless inhumane sanctions with the publicly declared objective of starving an entire nation.

They also make hue and cry about our current peaceful nuclear activities as if Iran has violated its obligations under the NPT. Yet, those parties are dead silent about repeated terrorist and disruptive measures of the Israeli regime against our peaceful nuclear program.

We reiterate once more that our measures are remedial in nature and taken in full conformity with our obligations under the NPT and our Safeguards Agreement. Moreover, they are in line with our rights under the JCPOA’s paragraphs 26 and 36, according to which, in case of, and I quote, “a re-introduction or re-imposition of the sanctions … or such an imposition of new nuclear-related sanctions”, Iran will have the right “to cease performing its commitments under this JCPOA in whole or in part”, end of quote.

More importantly, our steps are completely reversible. We are continuing our remedial measures concurrent with the Vienna talks because the non-performance of obligations by other parties still continues, sanctions are still in full force, maximum pressure policy is still being pursued, and the sufferings of our people still persist. Nevertheless, as soon as other parties implement all their obligations in a full, effective and verifiable manner, Iran will immediately reverse its measures in full.

Conversely, the sufferings of our people due to the non-performance of other parties with their obligations particularly those resulting from the re-imposition of the US illegal sanctions are almost absolutely irreversible.

How can one reverse the precious lives lost because of the US inhumane sanctions? How can one bring back to life those lives lost due to the weaponization of humanitarian goods? How can one revive the lives of innocent children being perished because the United States has opted to prevent them from access to the most essential medicines?

Bearing in mind these realities, we insist on the effective removal of all sanctions at once and in a verifiable manner. The way that the US has treated its international obligations has necessitated such an approach, because in international law, the implementation of the agreements is, first and foremost, founded on the principle of pacta sunt servanda. Its simple meaning is: the “agreements must be kept”.

This is the oldest and universally agreed principle of international law, and is fundamental to all legal systems. This principle has been flagrantly violated with respect to the JCPOA and resolution 2231, and as a result, an entire nation has been subjected to the most comprehensive and repressive coercive political, economic and financial measures ever imposed on a country.

When such customary and very fundamental principle of international law is mocked, trampled upon and violated, no nation trusts the culprit, and so do we. Therefore, provision of verifiable and objective guarantees that, the delicate balance of commitments will not be torpedoed anymore, the obligations will not be violated again, sanctions will not be re-imposed under other pretexts or designations -- as took place during the previous administration of the US -- and the JCPOA mechanisms will not be abused, is absolutely necessary. These are minimum requirements for relative certainty about the sustainability of the deal. We cannot and will not allow our economy and the daily economic life of our people be taken hostage to non-compliance of the other parties’ commitments once more.

We entered into negotiations and agreed with the JCPOA’s conclusion with goodwill, implemented our commitments with goodwill, and in the aftermath of the US withdrawal, provided enough time to remaining JCPOA participants with goodwill, to shoulder their responsibilities, and only after one year took certain remedial measures -- while based on the JCPOA Iran was entitled to exercise such rights immediately after the US unlawful withdrawal therefrom.

Iran’s peaceful nuclear program has been under the most robust and intrusive nuclear verification, monitoring and transparency measures ever conducted in a country during the history of non-proliferation. Since the establishment of the IAEA, no country has ever been inspected so thoroughly. The implementation of our commitments has been verified by the IAEA as reflected in its 15 consecutive reports. After the US withdrawal, Iran has exercised maximum restraint and paid a heavy price to preserve the JCPOA. Therefore, asking for objective and verifiable guarantees from the party responsible for the whole mess before us is absolutely warranted and necessary.

Iran has done much more than its fair share to preserve the JCPOA, and those who have violated their commitments under the JCPOA and resolution 2231 since Implementation Day of the accord, quite naturally, bear more responsibility to revive it. They cannot play victim and blame Iran.

If the other sides have a genuine political will to revive the JCPOA, they must be courageous enough to accept full, effective and verifiable implementation of all their obligations agreed upon under the JCPOA in 2015.

Concerning paragraph 3 of annex B to resolution 2231, we once again reject attempts to make arbitrary and distorted interpretation of that paragraph to deceptively establish a link between that paragraph with the launches by Iran of ballistic missiles and Space Launch Vehicles. According to detailed technical and legal reasoning that we have made in our numerous letters to the Council’s President, the launches of ballistic missiles and Space Launch Vehicles by Iran are completely outside of the purview of resolution 2231. Developing a conventional missile program is an inherent right under international law and is neither prohibited nor limited by resolution 2231. We will continue our activities related to ballistic missiles and space launch vehicles, both of which are necessary for ensuring our security and socioeconomic interests.

Allow me, Mr. President, to conclude by stressing that the current Vienna talks can succeed, not by engaging in  blame games, not by setting artificial deadlines, not by introducing threats and intimidations, not by raising unfounded accusations or disinformation campaigns, and not by committing sabotage, disruptive or terrorist activities in Iran, but only by engaging in negotiations with genuine political will and in good faith, and sticking to one principle: the full, effective and verifiable implementation by all sides of all commitments under the JCPOA; nothing more and nothing less. This is the most pragmatic and easily achievable solution at the earliest time. There is no magic solution.

Iran is determined to make every effort to restore the JCPOA as is. To that end, our proposals put forward in Vienna are in full conformity with the JCPOA and resolution 2231. We have demonstrated our genuine political will, seriousness and constructive engagement with our interlocutors to arrive at a good agreement as soon as possible. Now, it is time for the other sides to prove that they are genuinely willing to accept and implement, effectively and in good faith, all their JCPOA commitments.

Finally, our observations on Secretary-General’s report are contained in my letter dated 10 December 2021 to Secretary-General, covering our views on issues that I did not address in my remarks today.

Lastly, I would like to say a few words about what was said this afternoon concerning the region.

Iran’s foreign policy is based on the full respect for international law, mutual respect, good-neighborliness, cooperation and dialogue, as well as maintaining regional peace and security through active participation of all regional States. We are determined to pursue this policy in good faith. Our recent approach towards our neighborhood stems from our strong conviction that the regional countries should join hands to resolve their differences amicably, not allowing those who have come to this region from thousands of miles away only to sow the seeds of discord among the countries of the region.

An important source of insecurity and instability in our region is the massive US military build-up which has turned this region into the highest concentration of foreign military installations in the world.

Our region’s other source of insecurity is the massive US arms export thereto. According to SIPRI, throughout 2016–20, almost half of arms exports of the US, the largest arms exporter globally, went to the Middle East. The US is not the only culprit here. Certain European countries also export deadly weapons to regional countries. This policy of Western countries has turned this region into a powder-keg.

Furthermore, United States’ terrorist acts have created an atmosphere of instability and insecurity in our region. A clear example is the heinous assassination of Major General Qasem Soleimani and his companions in Iraq in early 2020 in a terrorist attack at the direct order of the US President.

With such a record, it is ironic that the US and some European countries are now accusing Iran of destabilizing behavior.

I thank you, Mr. President.”