TEHRAN – A member of the Expediency Council said on Sunday that if Iran does not benefit from the 2015 nuclear agreement, it will exit the deal and resume its nuclear activities.

Speaking with IRNA, Mohammad Sadr called on the European Union, Russia and China to counter the U.S. government’s action against the nuclear deal, saying those countries should support the deal and guarantee economic and banking relations with Iran.

Iran, the five permanent members of the UN Security Council - the U.S., UK, France, Russia, and China - Germany and the European Union struck the nuclear deal in July 2015. The deal took effect in January 2016.

Under the deal, also called the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), Iran is obliged to lower its nuclear program in exchange for termination of economic and financial sanctions. However, Tehran says it has not been able to reap the full economic benefits of the deal due to U.S. pressure.

Should the U.S. pull out of the JCPOA and European countries do not remain committed to the deal’s goals, it is natural for Iran to decide otherwise, Sadr said.

In a statement on January 12, U.S. President Donald Trump gave Europeans only 120 days to agree to an overhaul of the nuclear agreement and said if the text of the deal is not revised he would unilaterally withdraw the U.S. from it. The deadline falls on May 12.

Sadr also said quitting the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) is also an option for Iran if the U.S. scraps the JCPOA.

MH/PA