Onus on US to Live Up to JCPOA Commitments: Iran’s FM
TEHRAN (Tasnim) – Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif highlighted Washington’s acknowledgement of Iran’s adherence to its commitments under the 2015 nuclear deal, saying it is the US duty to carry out its undertakings.
“No amount of reported “imposed” negative spin can hide fact that US admitted Iran’s adherence to #JCPOA—onus on US to live up to its part,” Zarif said in a post on his official twitter account on Wednesday.
Iran and the Group 5+1 (Russia, China, the US, Britain, France and Germany) reached a conclusion over the text of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action in July 2015 and implemented it in January 2016.
While all parties to the JCPOA and also the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) have confirmed time and again that Iran has fulfilled its part of the deal, the United States has failed to abide by its obligations.
The JCPOA was supposed to terminate all nuclear-related sanctions against Iran all at once, but its implementation has been hampered mainly due to US policies.
Meanwhile, US President Donald Trump has raised the possibility that Washington may withdraw from the agreement.
In comments published Sunday, Trump said it was “possible” that the US would not remain in the nuclear deal.
“I believe they have broken the spirit of the agreement,” Trump told the Associated Press. “There is a spirit to agreements, and they have broken it.”
Trump had earlier made the same accusation against Iran last Thursday. In response, Zarif said Washington itself has not remained committed to the text of the JCPOA, let alone to its spirit.
“We’ll see if US (is) prepared to live up to letter of the JCPOA (the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action) let alone (to its) spirit. So far, it (the US) has defied both,” Zarif tweeted on Friday.
Also, speaking to reporters on the sidelines of a cabinet session in Tehran on Wednesday, Zarif rejected the US president’s comments on JCPOA and said, “Do not pay much attention to Trump’s words.”
