All Parties Responsible for Ensuring JCPOA Survival

The historic nuclear deal requires the full and continued commitment of all sides to survive, a nuclear negotiator and the ambassador to Britain said.

"JCPOA is an international, multilateral agreement whose sustainability rests on the continued commitment of all parties to its full implementation," Hamid Baeidinejad said, using an abbreviation that stands for the official title of the pact, namely the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action.

Baeidinejad's statement came in a Telegram post on Friday to mark the second anniversary of the deal between Iran and P5+1 (the five permanent members of the United Nations Security Council plus Germany).

"Today coincides with the second anniversary of the action plan's announcement in Vienna, an agreement that governments in the international community have touted as the biggest diplomacy achievement in the past decades … It ended one of the most complicated international disputes," the diplomat said.

The high-profile pact granted Iran relief from international sanctions in exchange for restricting its nuclear work, which was subject to over a decade of western allegations of aiming to produce a nuclear warhead.

The Islamic Republic has always denied those accusations and insists its nuclear program is only for civilian purposes.

***Deal on Solid Ground

Republican US President Donald Trump criticized the pact as he campaigned for the White House and once promised to rip it up, but later backtracked realizing that a UN-endorsed agreement is too costly to dismantle.

Other members of his party, which control Congress, unanimously oppose the landmark agreement and have made numerous attempts at slowing its implementation.

Media reports earlier this week said Trump is "very likely" to certify Iran's full adherence to its JCPOA commitments for the second time during his six-month-old presidency although he continues to have reservations about it.

Under the US law, the US State Department must notify Congress every 90 days of Iran's compliance.

Trump has a congressionally mandated deadline of Monday to decide.

"The US administration that emphatically announced it would tear JCPOA before coming to power has now found itself unable to do so because it is a firm agreement based on a solid foundation and underlying principles," Baeidinejad said.