TEHRAN – The Iranian Ambassador to Belarus, Mostafa Oveisi, has described as “legal” Iran’s actions with regard to reduction of its commitments to the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), commonly known as the Iran nuclear deal.

Iran has already said that its decisions to limit its nuclear commitments are based on the Paragraph 36 of the JCPOA.

Paragraph 36 provided a mechanism to resolve disputes and allows one side, under certain circumstances, to stop complying with the deal if the other side is out of compliance.

Ambassador Oveisi said Iran has not violated the JCPOA. “All of Iran’s actions are according to the non-proliferation treaty (NPT), and therefore none of the international organizations should be worried about it,” IRNA quoted him as saying on Tuesday, citing Sputnik.

He emphasized that it was not Iran that withdrew from the JCPOA, since the IAEA has confirmed Iran’s compliance with the deal on several occasions.

All of Iran’s actions are based on the NPT and monitored by the IAEA, the envoy said, adding, “Iran is politically acting peacefully and there should not be a concern for international organizations.”

“On the contrary, the world has to fear the policies of countries that have already used nuclear weapons against other people in the world and are trying to dominate the entire world.”

Oveisi further stressed that if the other signatories to the JCPOA abide by their commitments, Iran can re-implement all of its commitments to the 2015 accord.

“Otherwise, as Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei, Iranian President Hassan Rouhani and Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif have stressed, Iran will continue to reduce its commitments to the deal every two months,” he remarked.

On May 8, 2018, U.S. President Donald Trump withdrew his country from the JCPOA. Ever since its withdrawal, the U.S. has imposed new rounds sanctions against the Islamic Republic in line with its “maximum pressure” policy toward Tehran. 

Under the JCPOA, Iran had agreed to limit parts of its nuclear program in exchange for the termination of economic and financial sanctions.

MH/PA