Zarif: There will be no renegotiation over the JCPOA
Iran’s Foreign Minister has criticized Donald Trump’s threat to withdraw from the nuclear deal in a video published on YouTube and has ruled out any renegotiation or revision of the JCPOA.
Mohammad Javad Zarif, Iran’s Foreign Minister, has responded in a video published in English on YouTube to the threat by the US President to withdraw from the nuclear agreement with Iran (JCPOA).
It appears that in this video, which was published on Thursday, May 3, and sent to Twitter, the social media network favored by Donald Trump, he has addressed the public in defense of the nuclear agreement.
He released this video on the eve of a date when Trump is expected to announce his decision on whether to remain in or withdraw from the nuclear agreement with Iran. Trump will announce this decision on May 12. The US President has threatened that if there is no renegotiation on this agreement and its “defects” are not remedied, the United States may withdraw from it. Among the matters the United States has pointed to and deemed necessary to revise is Iran’s missile program, which Iran describes as a deterrent for the country’s defense.
In this five-minute video, Zarif delivers his message about the nuclear agreement from behind his desk. He first explains the background of reaching the JCPOA before presenting it to Trump, and then criticizes Europe for wanting to give Trump “more concessions from Iran’s pocket.”
Zarif says: “The International Atomic Energy Agency has confirmed in 11 instances that Iran has fulfilled all of its commitments.” Meanwhile, according to him, the United States has continuously violated the agreement, particularly through “bullying” and intimidating others not to conduct business with Iran.
He emphasizes: “Let me make it unequivocally clear once and for all: we neither entrust our security to foreigners nor will we renegotiate or revise an agreement that we have concluded in good faith.”
According to the Associated Press, Washington has not yet responded to Zarif’s remarks.
The nuclear agreement between the United States, Britain, France, China, Russia, and Germany with Iran, which was concluded in 2015, obligated both sides to fulfill certain commitments. Iran committed to limiting uranium enrichment, which is the key to making an atomic bomb, and the other side committed to lifting the sanctions that had been imposed on Iran over its nuclear program.
Following this agreement, in addition to the lifting of sanctions, aviation, automobile manufacturing, and other industries quickly began conducting business with Iran. However, some Western companies, given Trump’s constant criticism of the JCPOA, showed little interest in doing business with the Islamic Republic.
While criticizing the United States and Europe, Mohammad Javad Zarif said: “It is Iran and not the West that has serious grievances.” He described Iran as a country that has never attacked any nation in recent centuries, and the last time was when Saddam Hussein, the then-President of Iraq, attacked Iran.
He also threatened that if the United States withdraws from the JCPOA, Iran will reserve the right to show a “proportionate response.”
This video was released shortly after recent allegations by Benjamin Netanyahu, the Prime Minister of Israel. Netanyahu, referring to “new information and conclusive evidence,” accused Iran of secretly maintaining an extensive research program for building an atomic bomb.
The International Atomic Energy Agency has stated that it “possesses no credible evidence showing that Iran has moved toward developing nuclear weapons after 2009.”
Zarif responded to Netanyahu’s remarks by accusing him of repeating “old allegations.”
It appears that in the recent video he released, he has alluded to Trump’s previous involvement in real estate deals and building towers. Zarif says: “When you build a house and move your family into it or demolish it to build a skyscraper, you cannot go back two years later and renegotiate the price.”
Source: DW
