Tehran Entitled to Restore Uranium Enrichment

Foreign Minister Mohammed Javad Zarif says Tehran could restore uranium enrichment at its nuclear facilities as it deems it a right under the 2015 nuclear deal with world powers.
In a recent interview to Italy’s Rai News24, Zarif said a decision to restore uranium enrichment was an option that Iran could use to respond to the unilateral move by the United States in May to withdraw from the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, a deal also signed in July 2015 by Russia, China, Germany, Britain and France.
Zarif, who was in Rome for an international conference, said the US violation of JCPOA gives Iran the right to enrich uranium again.
The top Iranian diplomat also said Iran, like the US, had the option to withdraw from the JCPOA, a deal which he said was the result of some of the “lengthiest” and “most serious” negotiations in recent history. However, he said Tehran was waiting for the European partners to the deal to see if they could preserve the agreement by ensuring the interests of the Iranian people.
Zarif said Europe had made some strong commitments regarding JCPOA, but was yet to show its real determination to fend off US pressure and safeguard the nuclear deal.
It is impossible to “swim without getting wet”, Zarif said.
Asked to comment on Italy’s role in countering US sanctions on Iran, the Iranian foreign minister said Rome was Tehran’s biggest trade partner in the European Union and the government in Rome could support private companies in their business with Iran.

No Trust in Trump for New Talks

Zarif also told the MED Dialogues conference in Rome on Thursday that Iran sees no point in fresh nuclear talks with the US without guarantees it will not renege on any deal made.
“If we are to make an agreement with the United States, what is the guarantee that the agreement will last after the flight? You remember Canada?” he said, referring to Trump’s withdrawal of his signature from a G7 summit closing statement in June after his plane left host Canada, AFP reported.
“How are we to be confident that the signature stays on the paper?”
Sweeping new American sanctions against Iran, which came into effect on November 5, have raised fears about whether the deal can survive.
Iran has said the future of JCPOA would be called into question if it no longer received the economic benefits of the deal.
The deal envisaged sanctions on Iran being lifted in return for it accepting inspections by the UN nuclear agency and limits on its nuclear activities.
“We spent two-and-a-half years, this is not a two-page document, this is not a picture opportunity. This is a 150-page document,” Zarif said of the deal, suggesting that Trump’s objection was based on his “hatred” for former president, Barack Obama.
“Why should we resume another talk just because somebody doesn’t like it, just because somebody hates his predecessor? That’s not the reason you engage in diplomacy; diplomacy is a serious game and we are ready for a serious game.”