Iran entitled to reduce JCPOA obligations in case of US sanctions: Analyst

Tehran, IRNA – The reduction of Iran’s commitments under the 2015 nuclear deal as well as its plans for setting up and injecting gas into new centrifuges are among the Islamic Republic’s rights in the face of new sanctions imposed by the United States, an Iranian political expert opines. Hassan Abedini, an expert in international relations, told IRNA on Wednesday that the Islamic Republic of Iran implemented its obligations under the nuclear deal in order to pave the ground for the lifting of sanctions, but the US withdrew from the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) in May 2018 and the European signatories to the accord did not abide by their commitments. Then, Tehran decided to reduce its obligations, including the removal of a limit for uranium enrichment, he said, adding that Iran also announced that it will utilize the new generation of centrifuges in a retaliatory measure against fresh US sanctions. The Islamic Republic sees itself as rightful in decreasing its commitments when the other parties do not abide by their obligations under the nuclear deal; of course, none of the measures taken by the Iranians is in contradiction to the Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) and as a result, all of the changes are in line with regulations, the analyst argued. In a bid to supply the Bushehr reactor with required fuels, Iran needs new generation centrifuges to be able to produce 190,000 separative work units (SWU), he mentioned. Abedini also urged Europeans to persuade the United States to comply with its commitments under the JCPOA, noting that there is no need for mediation that France proposed, but the European trio (Britain, France, and Germany), as well as the US, are well aware that the Islamic Republic complied with its obligations and that the Western states have done nothing to abide by their own promises, so Europeans should urge the Americans to implement their duties and make amends to the problems in the way of carrying out the nuclear agreement. Iran resumed talks to revive the nuclear deal and remove sanctions in Austria and recently in Qatar to show its readiness to reach a consensus and its consent to a sustainable agreement. Tehran seeks an objective guarantee from the US and three European states to ensure that they will not violate the JCPOA, he said, adding that the Iranians want to be able to verify the implementation of the deal in practice. Elsewhere in his remarks, the expert said that thanks to the boom in international demands for energy, Iran does not have any problem exporting oil, but the Islamic Republic wants the US to stop spreading its domestic laws at the international level to pave the way for Iranians to be able to access SWIFT and global financial and banking mechanisms. The US should start returning to the JCPOA because they were the ones who pulled out of the nuclear agreement, he concluded. Follow us on Twitter@IrnaEnglish