Details added (first version posted on 13:15)
Baku, Azerbaijan, April 24
By Farhad Daneshvar – Trend:
Secretary of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council (SNSC) Ali Shamkhani has said that his country will quit the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT) if the US leaves the nuclear deal.
“The Islamic Republic of Iran will surely take a surprise reaction against the other side if it leaves the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA/nuclear deal),” Iranian media quoted Shamkhani as saying on Tuesday in Tehran prior to his visit to Russia's Sochi.
“Our possible option against the US exit from the JCPOA is quitting the NPT,” he added.
Shamkhani further said that Iran is fully ready to resume its “favorable nuclear activity”.
Saying that Iran welcomes the Europeans’ approach towards the nuclear deal, he said that this does not mean Iran “pays ransom” to them.
“The Islamic Republic of Iran will not allow anyone cross its redlines,” the Iranian official added.
US President Donald Trump is expected to sign a presidential waiver on sanctions on the Islamic Republic on May 12.
European officials have already held several talks with Tehran, Moscow and Washington as part of a drive to salvage the nuclear deal with Iran that President Donald Trump is threatening to scuttle.
So far, Iran has adhered to the terms of the nuclear deal, as verified by International Atomic Energy Agency inspectors in previous reports since the pact was implemented in January 2016.
But the economic benefits Iran is receiving in return have fallen short of expectations, even after energy and financial sanctions were lifted. Major banks and companies have avoided engaging with Iran from fear of running afoul of remaining US restrictions or seeing a "snapback" of sanctions given Trump’s threats.
Trump has told the Europeans that they must agree to "fix the terrible flaws of the Iran nuclear deal" or he would re-impose the sanctions that Washington lifted as part of the pact.