Iran’s Velayati:

JCPOA to Remain Unchanged

TEHRAN (defapress) – Ali Akbar Velayati, an international adviser to the Leader of the Islamic Revolution, rejected US President Donald Trump’s calls for renegotiating the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), saying the 2015 nuclear deal will remain unchanged.

News ID: 68140

Date: 18 January 2018 - 15:05

Speaking at a joint press conference with Speaker of Syria People’s Assembly Hamoudah al-Sabbagh on Wednesday, Velayati dismissed the US president’s comments on the need for changes in the Iran nuclear deal, stressing that the JCPOA will not be renegotiated and that nothing will be added or removed from the multilateral agreement.

He also described the new US sanctions against Iran as violation of the JCPOA while the Islamic Republic has remained committed to its undertakings.

Velayati further described the US calls for negotiating Iran’s missile program and foreign visits to Iran’s military sites as an “excessive demand”.

Last week, Trump again waived sanctions against Iran that were lifted as part of the landmark 2015 nuclear deal, but threatened he would terminate the agreement if “significant flaws” in it are not fixed.

“Today, I am waiving the application of certain nuclear sanctions, but only in order to secure our European allies’ agreement to fix the terrible flaws of the Iran nuclear deal,” he said in a statement.

“This is a last chance. In the absence of such an agreement, the United States will not again waive sanctions in order to stay in the Iran nuclear deal. And if at any time I judge that such an agreement is not within reach, I will withdraw from the deal immediately. No one should doubt my word.”

In October, Trump said he would not certify Iran’s compliance with the nuclear agreement that was negotiated under the previous administration.

He said he wants Congress to “fix the deal’s many flaws” such as existing sunset provisions.