Tehran, Iran, Nov. 28
By Mehdi Sepahvand – Trend:
Head of the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran, Ali Akbar Salehi says Tehran has worked necessary options into the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), which it can use in case the nuclear deal collapses.
“As we settled for [nuclear] negotiations, we always had in mind the situation if the JCPOA is scrapped. We have made due preparations for a day when that happens,” he said, Tasnim news agency reported November 28.
On the recent passing of a bill by the US Congress to extend a set of sanctions on Iran, he said if the Senate and president of the US confirm the bill, then the nuclear deal is violated.
“We can reach a huge volume of [uranium] enrichment in 1.5 years. But we would rather not have the JCPOA marred,” Salehi said.
The Congress’s recent move, added by statements by President-elect Donald Trump who said he will step out of the nuclear agreement, have left the fate of Iran’s relations with the world in a haze.
Put into action since January 2016, the JCPOA was the digest of three years of negotiations between Iran and the group 5+1 (the US, the UK, France, Russia, China and Germany) to curb Iran’s nuclear program on one side, and on the other remove sanctions on Iran.
The JCPOA says the imposition of new sanctions on Iran would violate the deal.