TEHRAN- Hassan Rouhani, Iran’s president, says there will be no changes to the content of the JCPOA and that no other country will be added to it.

Rouhani was in fact responding to Saudi Arabia which has said if the new Biden administration plans to rejoin the JCPOA its country should also be included. French President Emmanuel Macron has also called for inclusion of Saudi Arabia in the agreement. 

The JCPOA was struck between Iran and 5+1 nations (the five permanent members of the UN Security Council - Britain, France, the U.S., Russia and China - plus Germany in May 2015. The deal committed Iran to restrict its nuclear program in return for termination of economic and financial sanctions.

However, the U.S. under Donald Trump quit the deal in May 218 and slapped sweeping sanctions against Iran.

“If the group is 4+1, it remains the same, if the group is 5+1, it remains the same,” Rouhani noted during a meeting with his cabinet members. 

He emphasized “the undue words should not be said. We did a job resulted from hard work. It took more than ten years to gain the achievements. In the beginning of the eleventh government, we made efforts during the first two years” to reach the multilateral agreement. 

Iran has been insisting that it will not renegotiate the terms of the nuclear deal.

“The deal is not a thing that is easily gained. Nobody can tear the deal. If they want (the deal), they can fulfill their commitments. If they don’t, they can do their own business. We also do our own business,” Rouhani pointed out.
 
Pointing to the current approach taken by Biden’s administration, he noted, “We feel the world public opinion, politicians around the world and even American politicians think that the JCPOA is beneficial for the security, peace and engagement with other countries.”

He highlighted the violation of the nuclear deal by the U.S. and said, “Americans have to know they are the violator of United Nations Security Council Resolution 2231. So they should not talk about the JCPOA. It is not about Iran; there is a consensus among the United Nations Security Council members about the resolution. If you (the U.S.) delay, you make more mistakes. You violated the Resolution 2231, you have to make a commitment to the resolution and international law.” UN Security Council Resolution 2231 confirmed the JCPOA immediately after it was concluded.

Rouhani repeated that Iran is ready to meet all its commitment under the JCPOA, Iran will reverse its nuclear decisions. “If the U.S. returns to the Resolution 2231, it is very obvious we will fulfill our commitments.” 

In May 2019, exactly one year after Trump pulled the U.S. out of the deal and slapped harsh and sweeping sanctions on Iran under his “maximum pressure” campaign started to gradually reduce its commitment to the JCPOA as a remedial measure.   

President Joe Biden has promised to move quickly to rejoin the nuclear deal with Iran so long as Iran comes back into compliance. But Iran demands immediate lifting of the punishing sanctions imposed by the Trump administration to reverse its nuclear steps. 

EE/PA