TEHRAN – The Islamic Republic will continue to reduce its commitments under the 2015 nuclear agreement, also known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, if the other parties to the deal do not respect their obligations, says an MP.

“If the other parties to the deal do not respect their obligations, we will definitely take further steps to reduce our commitments under the deal,” Deputy Chairman of the Majlis National Security and Foreign Policy Committee Kamal Dehghani Firouzabadi said, Mehr reported on Friday.

The lawmaker also called on the remaining parties to the deal to stand up to Washington’s unilateral pressure on Iran.

Iran and the five permanent members of the United Nations Security Council – the United States, France, Britain, Russia and China – plus Germany signed the JCPOA on July 14, 2015 and started implementing it on January 16, 2016.

Under the deal, Iran undertook to put limits on its nuclear program in exchange for the removal of economic and financial sanctions.

However, U.S. President Donald Trump pulled his country out of the international nuclear deal in May last year. He re-imposed the sanctions that were lifted under the deal and added new ones.

Since May 8, exactly a year after the U.S. withdrawal, Iran has rowed back on its nuclear commitments three times in compliance with paragraphs 26 and 36 of the JCPOA.

Iran says its reciprocal measures will be reversible as soon as Europe finds practical ways to shield the Iranian economy from unilateral U.S. sanctions, which were imposed last year when Washington withdrew from the nuclear deal.

MH/PA