TEHRAN — Seyed Hossein Mousavian, a former Iranian nuclear negotiator, has said U.S. President Donald Trump’s withdrawal from the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) has dealt a major blow to world peace and security.

“The JCPOA is the most comprehensive and complete document in the history of nuclear non-proliferation. By destroying the JCPOA, Trump has dealt a major blow to the non-proliferation of nuclear weapons and global peace and security,” Mousavian said on Monday, according to IRNA.

Back in 2015, in order to address the commotion created by the United States and its allies over the Islamic Republic’s nuclear program, Tehran signed the nuclear deal with six world powers in 2015. Under the deal, Iran agreed to limit its nuclear activities in exchange for a termination of sanctions.

However, in May 2018, Trump withdrew the U.S. from the deal, officially called the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), and restored the sanctions on Iran and added new harsh ones. Trump’s move drew worldwide criticism.

On whether the U.S. has become safer with Trump’s ditching of the JCPOA and the U.S. assassination of Iran’s top general Qassem Soleimani, Mousavian said, “I believe America’s security has diminished. The non-proliferation of nuclear weapons is an integral part of global security.”

“It is true that Trump has caused billions of dollars in economic damage to Iran by imposing the most extensive sanctions, but with his withdrawal from the JCPOA, Iran expanded its range of nuclear activities and enrichment, which the Americans themselves consider it as contrary to the U.S. security,” he added.

Mousavian, who now works as a researcher at Princeton University, said all U.S. security and military agencies believe that with Trump's withdrawal from the JCPOA, cyber warfare between the two countries has expanded, which proves that security threats against the United States have increased.

He went on to say that the rising U.S. hostilities against Iran will not help U.S. “security, regional peace, and stability".

“Iran is an important regional power, and the United States is a global power, and until the cooperation of these two powers is realized, there will be no hope of resolving the regional crises,” added Mousavian, Iran’s former ambassador to Germany.

MH/PA