TEHRAN – Given the White House’s move to violate its obligations under the 2015 nuclear deal, officially known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), the secretary of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council says any negotiation with the U.S. would be futile.

“The United States failed in the JCPOA test, so Iran cannot trust them in any other area,” Ali Shamkhani told the Persian-language Tehran Foreign Policy Studies Quarterly.

“We are no longer allowed to devote the Iranian nation’s time to fruitless processes.”

The security chief further pointed to Washington’s hostilities toward the Islamic Republic, saying, “Our nation, which has vigilantly neutralized all of the White House's acts of sabotage over the past forty years, will foil America’s conspiracy through relying on domestic capacities this time too.”

The remarks come as tensions between Iran and the U.S. have escalated since President Donald Trump walked away from the 2015 nuclear deal between Iran and world powers in May and re-imposed sanctions on the Islamic Republic.

Trump on August 6 signed an executive order re-imposing many sanctions on Iran, three months after pulling out of the JCPOA.

He said the U.S. policy is to levy “maximum economic pressure” on the country.

The second batch of U.S. sanctions against the Islamic Republic took effect on November 4.   

SP/PA