Iran's deputy foreign minister said that if Iran's interests are not served by the nuclear deal, "there is no reason to adhere to it." According to the senior foreign ministry official, Iran can violate the JCPOA if it "wants to."
Seyyed Abbas Araghchi, Iran's Deputy Foreign Minister and senior member of the nuclear negotiation team, said on Tuesday morning at Iran's "Coordination Council for Legal Affairs and Executive Bodies" that, due to the "insistance of the Iranian nation," the Western parties concluded that they had "no choice but to negotiate," and Iran was able to "impose" its "will" on the other side during the negotiations.
Referring to Iran's defense capabilities, he said: "If our enemies could destroy the country's nuclear capability through military means and were not worried about the consequences, there is no doubt that they would have done so. We owe this to the capabilities of our armed forces and missile capabilities, which now prevent them from even thinking about a military attack on Iran."
Mr. Araghchi, expressing the practical effects of the lifting of sanctions in the past 50 days, said: “We have entered the international nuclear material market, as we have purchased 140 tons of yellow cake from Russia and 60 tons of yellow cake from Kazakhstan, and we have sold approximately 10 tons of 3.5 percent enriched material to Russia. In fact, we have entered the international market as an exporter of nuclear material. We have also sold 32 tons of heavy water to the United States.”
According to him, currently, "all of Iran's money abroad has been released" and the Central Bank of Iran has the authority to spend it, but whether or not the money will enter the country is "a secondary issue."
Iran's Deputy Foreign Minister considered the implementation of "US Congressional sanctions" to mean "violation of the JCPOA" and said that "the necessary orders have been issued by the US President in this regard."
According to this senior government official, “Exports of some Iranian items to the United States have more or less begun, and the first shipment of Iranian carpets has recently arrived in the United States.”
Mr. Araghchi's remarks coincided with the IRGC's missile test and after the International Atomic Energy Agency announced that it had established a new office to verify Iran's nuclear program.
On Monday, at a regular meeting of the Board of Governors of this United Nations-affiliated organization, Yukiya Amano described the establishment of this office as a necessity, citing the start of the implementation of the "Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action"; because, according to him, Iran has commitments for many years that it must fulfill, and the Agency must verify and monitor those activities.
On Tuesday, a US official said the IRGC's missile tests on that day did not violate the comprehensive nuclear deal with Iran, but there were "strong indications" that they conflicted with a United Nations Security Council resolution.
