Rouhani Warns US against Further Violation of JCPOA

TEHRAN (defapress)- Iranian President Hassan Rouhani in a meeting with new Polish Ambassador to Tehran Jarosław Marcin Domański warned the US not to make a strategic mistake by pulling out of the Iran nuclear deal.

News ID: 68201

Date: 21 January 2018 - 15:15

"The United States would be making a very big political mistake if it pulls out of the 2015 multilateral agreement on Tehran's nuclear program," President Rouhani said during the meeting.

President Rouhani's remarks came amid speculations about possible withdrawal of the US from the landmark nuclear deal, officially known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA).

"Except for one or two countries, the international community currently supports the JCPOA and the US administration is undoubtedly making a miscalculation in this regard," the Iranian president said.

President Rouhani said that protecting the nuclear deal would increase the optimism of the international community towards the diplomatic settlement of issues.

"Commitment to the JCPOA can constitute a very strong base for the establishment of broader cooperation between Iran and the European Union and promotion of peace and security in the region and the world," he added.

Iran and the Group 5+1 (the US, France, the UK, Russia and China plus Germany) signed the nuclear agreement on July 14, 2015 and started implementing it on January 16, 2016.

Under the JCPOA, Iran undertook to put limits on its nuclear program in exchange for the removal of nuclear-related sanctions imposed against Tehran.

US President Donald Trump on January 12 reluctantly agreed to waive sanctions against Iran that were lifted as part of the landmark deal, but said it would be the last time he issued such a waiver unless conditions were met.

President Trump said he wanted America's European allies to use the 120-day period before sanctions relief again came up for renewal to agree to tougher measures and new conditions, otherwise Washington would pull out of the deal.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov warned on Friday that the JCPOA would collapse if the US withdrew from the agreement.

"It cannot keep alive in a re-negotiated form, specially regarding the demands by the United States. It would not be acceptable for Iran and it is clear now, I believe, that the Europeans do understand this danger right now," Lavrov told reporters at the UN.

Domański, for his part, said that Poland, as an important country of the European Union and a member of the UN Security Council, would make efforts to protect the JCPOA.

The ambassador, who submitted his credentials to President Rouhani, added that his country's businessmen were keen to make investment in Iran's economic sector.