Zarif: Cancelling nuclear deal not to be Iran’s loss

Iran and the five permanent members of the UN Security Council signed the nuclear agreement, known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), in 2015, under which Iran accepted to curb its nuclear activities in exchange for sanctions relief.

Zarif in a recent interview with British dailies, the Financial times and the Guardian, said that it would not be unlikely that the US President Donald Trump does not certify the deal next month.

“My assumption and guess is that he will not certify and then will allow Congress to take the decision,” he said in New York.

The next date that US administration should certify the agreement is due on October 16.

Washington has verified the deal since Trump took office in January 2017.

However, media reports and the US politicians rhetoric show that he is trying to make a case against the deal.

Trump in his speech at the 72nd UN General Assembly lashed out at Iran and the historic nuclear deal it signed with the major world powers in 2015, claiming, ‘The Iran deal was one of the worst and most one-sided transactions the United States has ever entered into.’ He had repeatedly threatened that he would scrap the deal or renegotiate it.

“You either live by it, or you set it aside, Zarif said stressing, “You cannot be half pregnant.”

He also emphasized that Iran is pursuing peaceful goals by its nuclear activities and if the US cancels the deal, Iran’s decision will depend on the European signatories’ reaction.

“The deal allowed Iran to continue its research and development. So we have improved our technological base,” he added, implying that any walk away from the deal would not be Iran’s loss.

“If we decide to walk away from the deal we would be walking away with better technology.”

According to the Iranian Minister, the future of the deal and Iran’s decision will depend on the actions by other signatories and major world powers, including the Europe.

“If Europe and Japan and Russia and China decided to go along with the US, then I think that will be the end of the deal,” he said. “Europe should lead.”

Other signatories have directly or indirectly expressed their support of the deal. French President Emmanuel Macron in August took an opposite stance to that of US President Donald Trump by saying that there is no alternative to Iran’s nuclear deal.

‘I want to confirm France’s commitment to the Vienna nuclear deal with Iran,’ he added in a speech to French ambassadors, emphasizing his country’s willingness to have ‘constructive’ relations with Iran.

Zarif described Trump’s policies in dealing with the JCPOA as ‘unreliable’, saying he is violating ‘the letter, spirit, everything of the deal’.

He said that the parties who are on the wrong side are the US allies, and denounced their bombardments on Yemen.

A military intervention in Yemen was launched in 2015 by Saudi Arabia, accompanied by a number of other Arab states. The bombings have claimed lives of thousands Yemeni civilians, including hundreds of children.

Human rights groups have frequently accused Saudi Arabia of violating basic rights of Yemeni people, as the coalition has bombarded many civilian places, including schools and hospitals.

Using forbidden weapons, such as cluster bombs, and targeting non-military places caused the UN to put the name of Saudi Arabia on the children-rights-violator list, though removed after less than 72 hours due to the Saudis’ pressures.