TEHRAN – Presidential chief of staff Mahmoud Vaezi says the nuclear deal, also known as Barjam in Iran, is worthless if it does not benefit Iran.

Vaezi accompanied President Rouhani during his trip to New York for the Annual UN General Assembly conference. While in New York, Rouhani held separate meetings with leaders of Germany, France and Britain whose countries are signatory to the 2015 nuclear agreement.

“Barjam without its benefits is worthless for us and we told the Europeans that in order to preserve the agreement they should fulfil their commitments and shoulder the U.S. burden as well,” Vaezi said on Sunday, ISNA reported.

He warned that Iran will continue to scale back its commitments under the nuclear deal if the other signatories to the deal do not fulfil their commitments.

“We have announced loud and clear that if they fail to take any action we will take the next step,” the presidential chief of staff pointed out.

According to Vaezi, Rouhani said during his New York trip that Iran needed to reap the benefits of the nuclear pact.

“Rouhani also strongly criticized Europe’s recent statement” that blamed Iran for the September 14 attacks on the Saudi Aramco oil facilities, he added.

Vaezi also said some may like to create the impression that Europe is on the side of the U.S. “but this is not the right policy, and, at least, such a thing has not happened with regards to Barjam.”

U.S. President Donald Trump pulled out of the Iran nuclear deal, formally known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), in May 2018. He has since imposed more than 1,000 individual sanctions on Tehran, which culminated with an oil embargo this May. Zarif himself is also sanctioned.

Earlier this month, the U.S. Department of the Treasury slapped sanctions on the Central Bank of Iran and the country’s sovereign wealth fund, a move Trump described as the “highest level of sanctions”.

Elsewhere in his remarks, Vaezi said Rouhani’s visit to New York thwarted Washington’s anti-Iran agenda.

“The presence of Mr. Rouhani accompanied by a delegation at the United Nations General Assembly summit in New York as well as his interviews thwarted America’s propaganda against our country,” he stressed.

The top official said Washington mixed up many issues, including the nuclear deal and the Aramco incident, to propagandize against the Islamic Republic.

Vaezi also criticized Washington for attempting to obstruct the Iranian team’s trip to New York.

“The Americans created restrictions for the Iranian delegation in New York and attempted to create circumstances that would keep us from making that trip and going to the UN General Assembly,” he stated.

However, he continued, the Iranian delegation made the visit and tried to “show that the Islamic Republic of Iran was right and to reveal the pressure exerted on Iranian people.”

MH/PA