Iran won’t accept additional issues in JCPOA: speaker
TEHRAN – Speaker of Iranian Parliament Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf has said that Iran will not accept any other issues to be added to the 2015 nuclear deal, officially known as the JCPOA.
Speaking at a gathering in the city of Hamedan, western Iran, Qalibaf stressed that if the other parties do not abide by the nuclear agreement ratified by the United Nations, there is no justification for Iran to abide by its commitments.
He underlined that Iran will not allow additional demands in the nuclear agreement.
The remarks by the top lawmaker come as Iran and the U.S. are closer than ever before to restoring the JCPOA ditched by former president Donald Trump in May 2018.
“After the signing of the nuclear agreement during the period of the previous administration, the U.S. president at that time did not fulfill his obligations and increased the embargo measures against Iran, ignoring the resolution signed by the United Nations,” he said.
Averring that America practices arrogance and bullying, he said, “If we do not stand up to this country, they will not stop either, so we must strengthen our capacity in this regard.”
“Today in the economic war, the first and most important law passed by the Islamic Consultative Assembly was the law to lift sanctions, because we believe in ending this unjust war,” he noted, according to Al Alam.
Qalibaf continued, “If they do not fulfill their obligations, there is no justification for us to fulfill our obligations in the nuclear field, so we will deal with the nuclear issue only within the framework of guarantees, unless they fulfill their obligations.”
He said, “When they seek to continue the unjust sanctions, why do we not act on our legal right within the framework of the agency? Some said that things would happen after this law was implemented, but when we stood strong nothing happened [in response to the law] even with the shutdown of the cameras [at some nuclear facilities], and as a result, America returned to the negotiating table.”
The top legislator added, “If they address the problems of the past, everything will be fixed.”
Qalibaf stated, “If they comply with the obligations, we will also comply and continue, but our problem will not be solved by lifting the ban, and the ban must be aborted.”