TEHRAN - Ali Akbar Velayati has responded to comments by Saeed Jalili about the nuclear deal between Iran and the West, officially known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA).

Jalili, the former head of Supreme National Security Council who led Iran’s nuclear talks with great powers during the presidency of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, has said the deal has deprived Iran of “at least one hundred of its inalienable rights”.

According to some MPs, Jalili has made the remarks at a parliamentary committee set up to review the JCPOA.

Velayati, a former foreign minister who currently acts senior advisor to the Supreme Leader, said Jalili’s comments were the results of his own “interpretation” of the deal, noting that the parliamentary committee is a better judge for evaluating the merits and demerits of the accord.

---- Shamkhani urges MPs to study nuclear deal free from personal tastes--------

Meanwhile Ali Shamkhani on Tuesday called on the MPs sitting on the committee to present their own view of the JCPOA without involving “personal” motivations, asking them not to “remain in the past”.

Shamkhani, the current secretary of the Supreme National Security Council who had attended the parliamentary committee, said Iran has passed the negotiation stage and it should now make plans for the future and manage the issue based on “national expediency”.

He also said Majlis can authorize the government to implement the JCPOA or not. The former defense chief also said now it is not possible to enter the details of the deal.

“We should now prepare the provisions for implementation of BARJAM (the Persian abbreviation for the nuclear deal) because return to the past is not in (our) interest.”

Shamkhani also said the JCPOA is the product of efforts of the current and former nuclear negotiators.

MD/PA