TEHRAN – Majid Takht-Ravanchi, Iran’s ambassador to the United Nations, has reiterated Iran’s insistence on tapping into domestic capabilities to neutralize the United States’ illegal sanctions.

“In Tehran now and back in NY mid-January: The gov't is focused on domestic capabilities to neutralize illegal US sanctions,” Takht-Ravanchi wrote in a tweet on Tuesday night.

Back in November, Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Ali Khamenei underlined the need to neutralize the sanctions on Iran through boosting internal economic capabilities while also ruling out any prospect of broader negotiations with the West.

The Leader called the sanctions “a crime against the Iranian people that has been intensified in the past three years.” He said the economy is the main issue of the country right now and the livelihood of people has been really under pressure.

Ayatollah Khamenei also called the sanctions “a bitter reality and a crime by America and its European partners against the Iranian nation.”

Meanwhile, President Hassan Rouhani has said his administration is seriously pursuing the nullification of the sanctions.

“That the Leader told [us] to neutralize the sanctions, we are pursuing this moment by moment. Every time money enters the country and goods are exported, you should know that hours of fights have been behind it,” Rouhani said on December 26.

He explained that this is something that has been done for hours and moments since two years ago, when the U.S. withdrew from the nuclear agreement, officially called the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA).

In his Tuesday tweet, Takht-Ravanchi also said that while Iran has resumed 20% enrichment, “we have reiterated that all its nuclear steps will be reversed upon full implementation of JCPOA commitments by all.”

On Monday, Iran officially announced that it has started the process to enrich uranium to 20 percent purity at its Fordow nuclear facility.

Government spokesman Ali Rabiei announced on Monday that President Rouhani has ordered the implementation of a new law, dubbed the Strategic Action Plan to Counter Sanctions, which has been already approved by the Parliament.

The action plan introduces a step-by-step strategy for the government to increase nuclear activities in a few months if the other side failed to implement certain commitments. 

The law is part of a broader strategy that aims to lift the United States sanctions on Iran and was put forward by the lawmakers in early November. It aims to force the United States into lifting sanctions on Iran by doubling down on nuclear activities.

Iran and six world powers, including the U.S., Russia, China, France, Britain and Germany, and also the European Union, reached a nuclear deal, officially known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), in Vienna on 14 July 2015. However, U.S. President Donald Trump unilaterally withdrew from the JCPOA on May 8, 2018. The move was deplored by all other parties to the deal.

In response, Iran waited a year for the remaining sides to protect its interests under the deal. But since they failed to do so, Iran started to reduce its commitments under the JCPOA beginning on May 8, 2019, exactly one year after strategic patience.

MH/PA