Zarif:

Iran Mulling over N. Deal Pullout as Option

TEHRAN (defapress)- Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif warned the European Union to speed up efforts to provide Tehran with the merits promised under the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), saying that discarding the nuclear deal is among the main options available to his country.

News ID: 74691

Date: 01 January 2019 - 15:48

“Iran has many options on the table, and leaving the JCPOA is assuredly one among the tens of them,” Zarif said, in an interview published on Tuesday.

"We care the most about the interests of our people, and we have many grounds in bilateral and multilateral relations either inside or outside the nuclear deal to use our jurisdiction to pursue our interests," he stressed.

The top diplomat went on saying that Iran has preserved its rights in regard to how to deal with the developments about the nuclear deal after the US abrogation of the agreement.

“Pulling out of the JCPOA is one of our options which is quite legal,” he maintained, adding, “There are also options within the framework of the JCPOA, and they are legally authentic as well.”

Paragraphs 36 and 37 of the JCPOA entitle Tehran to call off part of its undertakings in response to the violation of the terms of the agreement by other parties to the deal, or discard the agreement altogether once it comes to the conclusion that its interests are not met.

The Iranian foreign minister then reminded that again the choices are not limited, and reassured that Tehran will make decisions based on its people’s interests.

“We believe that Europeans must abide by their commitments, and the Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV) is not the only undertaking of the Europe, but their commitments are much more than and beyond the SPV,” he underlined, reiterating that the mechanism is an introductory phase to let Europeans observe their commitments towards Iran.

Zarif said Europeans' delayed compliance with their undertakings under the deal is a result of the US pressures.

“I am having more the feeling that the Europeans are not ready to pay the price,” he said, adding that the Europeans have not made up their mind to believe in the concept of no pain, no gain.

The SPV which was promised by Iran’s key European trading partners back in September after a meeting of foreign ministers of the remaining signatories to Iran nuclear on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly meeting in New York after the US withdrawal from the nuclear deal is supposed to keep Iran’s financial relations with Europe alive under the US sanctions.

Europeans' honesty in dealing with Iran nuclear deal of July 14, 2015 is seriously doubted by Iranian masses and activists that are discontent with talks with European counterparts.

In contrast with what European politicians and government are stating, many experts in Iran are suspicious of Europe's genuine commitment to the letters of the nuclear agreement of July 14, 2015, and are voicing their discontent with what they describe as Europe's strategy of killing time.

Seyed Mostafa Khoshchashm, an expert, has called on the Iranian government to start meaningful modifications in JCPOA undertakings, and specially remove the cap on the country's enriched uranium stockpile after the US unilateral withdrawal from the agreement, a call which is gaining momentum among the Iranian experts.

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