Iran FM downplays possibility of US failure to remove sanctions

Baku, Azerbaijan, March 7

By Farhad Daneshvar – Trend:

Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif says he sees no reason why the US should fail to fulfill its obligations on removing sanctions against Tehran under the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA/nuclear deal).

“We see no reason for failing the removal and suspension [process] of sanctions against Iran which under the JCPOA are considered as the commitments of the US,” ISNA news agency quoted him as saying.



The top diplomat stressed that Iran is capable of adopting a “reversibility mechanism” concerning the nuclear deal but Tehran prefers to keep on implementing the JCPOA rather than rolling back its nuclear program.


Iranian nuclear officials earlier warned against any breach of nuclear accord saying the country’s experts had devised a “reversibility” mechanism that would enable Iran to immediately return to conditions before the conclusion of the deal, if the other side fails to live up to its commitments under the nuclear agreement.


Zarif asserted that the US has taken on some obligations and it has to fulfill commitments under the nuclear accord.


Concerns have grown in the Islamic Republic over US President Donald Trump’s approach to past Iran sanctions. A group of Iranian experts have expressed concerns that Trump could unilaterally sabotage the nuclear agreement.

Penalties would be reinstituted against non-Americans for dealing with Iran in various areas, including banking and energy, if Trump allows the waivers of past sanctions on Iran, signed by former President Barack Obama under executive order, to lapse over the coming months.




Iran and the world powers in 2015 reached a historic deal on the country's nuclear program removing sanctions on the Islamic Republic in exchange for curbing the country's nuclear program.