Iran: No Broader Talks with US before JCPOA Obligations Fulfilled

“We remain committed to the return of all parties to the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action to their obligations in strict compliance with the text of the agreement and we are not going to open negotiations on any other subject. Talking and even thinking about negotiations beyond the nuclear deal is meaningless before the US and members of the 4+1 group completely fulfill their obligations under the accord,” said Iran’s government spokesman Ali Rabiei.

“This is the fundamental approach of the Islamic Republic of Iran and is backed by the country’s major [national] documents and will not change with the change in administration. Of course, the 13th administration has the legal authority to take its own approach to the issue, to diplomatic ways and means and to materialization of uncompromisable national objectives.” 

He was responding to a question on the US stance on the nuclear deal and the fate of the agreement after August 3, when the new government takes office in Iran.

“Generally speaking, it should have been clearly proven over the past years that sanctions against Iran, at any level, are condemned to failure and that no new sanction can lead to any result beyond repetition of past failures. Therefore, we hope that the US government has learnt lessons from the previous [US] administration and does not get trapped in wrong and destructive analyses and impressions,” Rabiei said.

The spokesman further stressed that the government of President Hassan Rouhani has already fulfilled its responsibility during the nuclear talks in connection with removal of anti-Iran sanctions. He said things would have been different in relation to sanctions without the “unnecessary restrictions implemented by the law”, in a reference to a parliamentary legislation that imposed limits on how the government can approach the Vienna talk on revival of the nuclear deal.