BAKU, Azerbaijan, February 13. The negotiations on the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) could still resume, despite the U.S. withdrawal from the agreement, sanctions against Iran, and turmoil in the Middle East, said Ali Aghazadeh, a member of the Iranian Parliament’s National Security and Foreign Policy Committee, Trend reports.
Agazadeh cited a recent statement by U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken, who admitted that the U.S.withdrawal from the JCPOA was a major mistake. Blinken acknowledged that the JCPOA addressed one of America's concerns, Iran's nuclear program.
Iranian MP said that if the U.S. realized that leaving the JCPOA had negative repercussions for itself, there was a possibility for new talks to begin.
He also stated that the JCPOA was a reasonable agreement for all sides. The West eased its worries by creating a system to closely monitor Iran’s nuclear activities. Iran, in turn, attained its objectives such as the formal recognition of its nuclear activities and the removal of sanctions.
Aghazadeh added that the U.S. hoped to force Iran to surrender by quitting the JCPOA and imposing sanctions on Iran in 2018, expecting that Iran would accept arms limitations under the new JCPOA and abandon its regional policies. But none of that occurred.
The MP concluded that by withdrawing from the JCPOA, the West showed that Iran had achieved a victory in the realm of diplomacy.
On January 16, 2016, Iran's nuclear program triggered the creation of the JCPOA between Iran and the P5+1 group (US, Russia, China, UK, France, and Germany).
However, on May 8, 2018, the US announced its withdrawal from the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) between Iran and the 5+1 group (Russia, China, the UK, France, the US, and Germany) and imposed new sanctions against Iran as of November 2018.
Over the past period, the sanctions have affected Iranian oil exports and more than 700 banks, companies, and individuals. The sanctions have resulted in the freezing of Iranian assets abroad.
In late 2020, the Iranian parliament decided to implement a strategic plan to tackle the sanctions, citing the non-implementation of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) signed between Iran and six countries and the imposition of sanctions on Iran.
According to the decision of the Iranian parliament, as of February 23, Iran suspended the implementation of additional steps and an additional protocol provided for in the nuclear deal. As a result, the control mechanism of the IAEA decreased by 20–30 percent.
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