P5+1 Obliged to Ensure Nuclear Deal’s Enforcement

A senior lawmaker said the six world powers that signed the July 2015 nuclear deal are responsible for the violation of the accord by any of them, amid an atmosphere of uncertainty regarding the destiny of the deal caused by the surprise election of Donald Trump to the US presidency.

Trump triumphed in the US presidential election last week on a pledge to change US stance on the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, as the deal is officially called.

Seyyed Hossein Naqavi Hosseini, who was speaking to ICANA on Saturday, noted that the nuclear pact is an international agreement between Iran and the P5+1 (the US, Britain, France, China and Russia, plus Germany), and not a deal between Tehran and Washington.

"We want implementation of the deal," he said. "But if a member of the P5+1 seeks to abandon its end of the bargain, the group, the UN Security Council and the EU should be accountable."

The deal came after over two years of intense negotiations to solve a 12-year dispute, in which the US and its allies were accusing Tehran of pursuing development of nuclear weapons while Iran insisted that its nuclear work is only meant for peaceful purposes.

Tehran's position has been confirmed by numerous inspections conducted by the International Atomic Energy Agency.

According to the deal, the UNSC, EU and US were obliged to remove their nuclear-related sanctions on Iran.

Months after the January implementation of the deal, the UN nuclear watchdog repeatedly verified Iran's full compliance with its deal commitments.

But Tehran has been making repeated complaints that the other side, particularly the US, has not let it reap the full economic benefits expected under the accord. During his campaign, Trump had first said that he would dismantle the nuclear deal, calling it the "stupidest" of all time, but later changed his mind and made other contradictory statements on the accord.

In the last version of Trump's view on the deal, one of his foreign policy advisers said the incoming president is going to demand changes to the historic pact.

"He will take the agreement, review it, send it to Congress, demand from the Iranians to restore few issues or change few issues, and there will be a discussion," Walid Phares said last week.

"It could be a tense discussion but the agreement as is right now … is not going to be accepted by a Trump administration."

  Ready for all Circumstances

Naqavi Hosseini said he believes the next US administration will have three options on the deal.

"One of them is that Trump stops US implementation of the JCPOA. If so, Iran will take its reciprocal measure," he said.

"The second situation is that he accepts the current status quo and keeps up with the US bad promises. Iran will stand against such an approach.

"The next scenario is that the US officials will have a change of heart and modify their bad behavior. This is a good option for Iran."

Naqavi Hosseini underlined that the Islamic republic is ready for all conditions.

"As the Leader of Islamic Revolution said, if Americans tear up the deal, we will burn it," he said.

EU officials have also expressed concern over Trump's attitude toward the deal.

Federica Mogherini, the top EU diplomat, said on Thursday the new US administration would lack the legal authority to pull out of the Iran nuclear deal as it is a multilateral agreement enshrined in UNSC resolutions.