Iran’s Ambassador to the United Nations Majid Takht-Ravanchi said that both Iran and the international community expect the next US administration to go back to the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) unconditionally.
Speaking exclusively to IRNA, Takht-Ravanchi added, “We have heard from the [president-elect Joe] Biden’s team a number of positive remarks regarding the JCPOA and the return of the United States to its obligations.”
“It’s too early to judge exactly what the next dwellers of the White House will do,” said the senior diplomat.
He added, “We have to wait until President Biden comes to office and announces his position regarding the JCPOA and its implementation.”
The envoy went on to say that what is important for Iran is “the actual implementation of what the United States has agreed to do based on the nuclear agreement.”
JCPOA was signed in 2015 between Iran and six major powers (US, Britain, France, Russia, China and Germany). However, US outgoing President Donald Trump has unilaterally withdrew from the nuclear deal in 2018.
According to Yakht-Ravnachi, what is important for Iran and the whole international community “is that the US is in violation and is obliged to go back to the full implementation of the JCPOA.” He added US next move is “an important element” in Iran’s calculations and that’s why Tehran waits to see Washington’s next move.
“Iran will wait until the next US president is in office and makes his move,” then “will act accordingly.”
“The whole international community expects the United States to live up to its commitments and live up to its promises,” he noticed.
Takht-Ravanchi reiterated that any suggestion for renegotiating the nuclear deal, “is totally out of question.”
“Iran has on numerous occasions said that the JCPOA is a deal based on a give-and-take process, so whenever one party of the deal decides that they could have won more, they should have in mind that “the other side also has the same feeling.”
Referring to idea of renegotiating the JCPOA as the opening of the “Pandora’s box,” the senior diploma stressed, “Therefore, we are not ready (for that) and believe that it is not in the interest of anybody to allow the opening up of the negotiations or opening up the nuclear file.”
“We have expressed our dismay over the non-implementation of the JCPOA by European partners within JCPOA,” the envoy went on to stress.
He added, “It is very difficult to predict what will happen to the JCPOA in the future. We hope that we keep it in place. This is what you have been doing for the last five six years even we waited for a year after Trump withdrew from the JCPOA. But we hope that the JCPOA can survive.”
“Although what we have been doing is based on the letter and the spirit of JCPOA, we have said on numerous occasions that if the United States is prepared to go back to the unconditional full implementation of the JCPOA, we will do the same and in that case, the JCPOA will be in a much better situation than what we have today,” Takht-Ravanchi concluded.