TEHRAN — Foreign Ministry spokesman Saeed Khatibzadeh said on Monday that should the so-called snapback mechanism is triggered, Iran’s response will be “definitely decisive”.

“The Islamic Republic of Iran’s response to any violation of Resolution 2231 and Barjam (the nuclear deal) will be carried out by [Iran’s] Supreme National Security Council, and this has been sent to the head of different countries in a previous letter,” Khatibzadeh said during his first official press briefing.

“Iran’s response will be definitely decisive,” he added, Mehr reported.

Last week, Washington officially informed the UN Security Council it is demanding the restoration of all UN sanctions on Iran, insisting that the U.S. has the legal right to “snap back” UN sanctions even though U.S. President Donald Trump pulled out of the UNSC-endorsed nuclear deal, officially called the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA).

Other parties to the nuclear deal, including Russia, China, France, Britain and Germany, have voiced strong opposition to Washington’s push for sanctions on Iran.

He criticized the frequently-used term “snapback mechanism”, saying such a thing does not exist either in the 2015 nuclear deal or the UN Security Council Resolution 2231.

‘Trump rhetoric on new deal with Iran aimed at domestic audience’

On Trump’s claim that Tehran and Washington will agree on a deal in three weeks after the U.S. presidential elections, the spokesman said such remarks only serve as rhetoric aimed at a domestic audience.

Khatibzadeh added it is natural for Iran’s partners in the JCPOA to make every effort to counter the U.S.’s unilateralism.

Iran’s Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif has said the United States cannot benefit from the fruits of its unlawful act of withdrawing from the JCPOA.

“Based on the universally accepted general principle of law, the United States cannot benefit from the fruits of its unlawful act of withdrawal from the JCPOA by assuming that it has no obligation to submit its notification alongside a description of good-faith efforts,” Zarif wrote in a letter to the chairman of the UN Security Council on Thursday.

MH/PA