Nuclear Deal Not One-Sided Agreement

The Foreign Ministry’s spokesman said the nuclear agreement signed between Iran and world powers in 2015, which has been endorsed by the United Nations Security Council Resolution 2231, is not a one-sided deal and all UN member states are bound to implement it.
In an interview with the Persian-language newspaper Hamshahri published on Sunday, Saeed Khatibzadeh said the United States, which was a signatory to the nuclear deal, known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, “unilaterally ended its membership and after that, outrageously violated Resolution 2231 both by refraining from implementing its own commitments and by preventing other signatories from fulfilling theirs”.
He regretted that other parties, particularly the three European signatories to the nuclear deal, namely Britain, France and Germany, have also seriously violated JCPOA by failing to fulfill their obligations as per the deal and remove sanctions against Iran.
“Certainly, JCPOA is a framework. We have negotiated it once and reached a framework that cannot be renegotiated and we are committed to it,” the spokesperson said, expressing hope that other parties would also return to the full implementation of their undertakings as soon as possible.
“If the day comes [when all signatories start fulfilling their JCPOA commitments], we will rewind the steps we have taken to reduce [our commitments] within the framework of JCPOA, which are reversible.”
US President Donald Trump unilaterally pulled Washington out of the agreement in May 2018 and unleashed the “toughest ever” sanctions against Iran in defiance of global criticism.
Following its much-criticized exit, Washington has been attempting to prevent the remaining signatories—Britain, France, China, Russia and Germany—from abiding by their commitments to kill the historic agreement.
Iran remained fully compliant with JCPOA for an entire year, waiting for the co-signatories to fulfill their end of the bargain by offsetting the impacts of American bans on the Iranian economy.
In response to the US unilateral withdrawal from JCPOA, Tehran has so far rowed back its nuclear commitments five times in compliance with articles 26 and 36 of the nuclear deal, but stressed that its retaliatory measures will be reversible as soon as Europe finds practical ways to shield their mutual trade from US sanctions.

What Matters 

Khatibzadeh referred to the remarks of US President-elect Joe Biden on various international developments, including Washington’s approach to Tehran, and said Biden’s remarks are different from actions taken by the administration of the incumbent President Trump.
He added, though, what is important to Iran is the practical steps that the new US administration will take, not its words.
“What has been heard from Mr. Biden indicates that he wants to implement his definite commitments in various fields, including with regard to the Paris [climate] agreement and other treaties such as JCPOA,” the spokesman said.
He noted that there are “clear” differences between Biden’s remarks and the actions taken by the current US president, “but we have to see how the next US administration will act”.
Khatibzadeh said the next US president has apparently understood that Washington has been pursuing failed policies in the region and seeks to revise them.