TEHRAN – Chairman of the Majlis Nuclear Committee Mojtaba Zonnour said on Saturday that Iran has not taken any measure against the 2015 nuclear deal, also referred to as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA).

“We have not taken any measure against Barjam (JCPOA), but the Americans, with imposing bans on the export and trade of Iran’s uranium to abroad, have caused an excess in our country’s stockpile of enriched uranium,” Zonnour told the Mehr news agency.

He said the JCPOA was not supposed to be a one-sided agreement, adding, “We will increase our uranium enrichment to a percentage that would meet our peaceful needs.”

The top MP further said the United States has also imposed bans on Iran’s export of heavy water, which has in turn led to an excess in Iran’s stockpile of heavy water.

Iranian officials have frequently stated that Tehran would reconsider its decisions on the JCPOA as soon as the U.S. returns to the nuclear deal and the Europeans fulfil their obligations under the accord, he remarked.

“However, Barjam is not supposed to be a one-sided deal, but all parties to Barjam must fulfil their duties,” Zonnour reiterated.

U.S. President Donald Trump withdrew the United States from the JCPOA on May 8, 2018, despite strong protests from the other parties to the deal. Then his administration imposed sanctions on Tehran in a clear violation of the UN Security Council resolution 2231, also pushing other countries to violate the same resolution by cutting economic ties with Iran.

Under the JCPOA, Iran had agreed to limit parts of its peaceful nuclear program in exchange for the removal of all nuclear-related sanctions.

Exactly a year after the U.S. withdrawal, Iran announced that it would suspend some of its commitments under the deal. The country said it will no longer export its surplus uranium and heavy water to foreign countries.

It also warned that it would carry out further suspensions of its nuclear commitments if the other parties to the deal failed to take practical steps to honor their commitments within 60 days.

Days before the 60-day deadline, Iranian President Hassan Rouhani announced that Tehran would get past a 3.67% uranium enrichment level set by the deal on July 7 as a retaliatory measure to U.S. ditching of the agreement.

“We will discard that commitment. We will go beyond 3.67% as much as we want and as much as we need to,” Rouhani said on Wednesday.

MH/PA