Washington would face international isolation if President Donald Trump makes good on his repeated threat to walk out of the landmark nuclear deal, a nuclear official warned, ahead of the May 12 deadline for the renewal of US sanction waivers.
"If Trump does not extend [the sanctions relief under] the JCPOA, he would suffer political isolation," Behrouz Kamalvandi, the spokesperson for the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran, told IRNA on Tuesday.
He was using the official name of the 2015 nuclear agreement, the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, under which the six major powers committed to lift sanctions against Iran in return for scaling back its nuclear program.
"This is not the first time that Trump has threatened not to sign the waivers. It raised that threat several times in the past but ultimately he had to sign them," Kamalvandi said.
Elaborating the point, he said, "They have made the same threat every time. It's not still clear what they will do. But if they decide to leave the JCPOA, it will create international and political problems for them."
US nuclear sanctions would snap back in place if Trump refuses to reendorse the sanction waivers next month, as required every 120 days under US law.
The controversial US ruler says his decision hinges on cooperation from Washington's European partners to fix what he claims are "the terrible flaws” of the deal. However, his allies and friends have officially stated that the JCPOA is the best agreement and must be respected by all the signatories.
His refusal to keep the waivers in place would effectively translate into a US withdrawal from the accord.
Iran has ruled out any amendment to the nuclear agreement, vowing to abandon its JCPOA commitments and boost uranium enrichment activity to advanced levels in the event of a US withdrawal.
The curbs Iran accepted on its nuclear program under the action plan included reducing the number of centrifuges installed at Fordo and Natanz enrichment sites, cutting the enriched uranium stockpile below 300 kg and the fissile purity of 3.67%, and redesigning the Khandab heavy water reactor.
AEOI director Ali Akbar Salehi said Monday that his organization is fully prepared to immediately pull out of those commitments if need be.
"The decision on how to respond to the US exit from the nuclear agreement rests with the JCPOA oversight committee and senior authorities," Salehi told state TV late on Monday.
"We can swiftly revert to the previous conditions. We can quickly advance the work in Natanz and resume production of the 20% enriched uranium there as well as in Fordo. There is no need for concern."
