‘Iran Has Plans to Counter US Possible Pullout from JCPOA’

Iranian lawmakers are having busy days. Key and rapid developments in the region and the world as well as a meeting of the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU) in Russia’s Saint Petersburg have prompted Iranian lawmakers to announce their positions on major international issues as well as the Iran nuclear deal known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA).

US President Donald Trump’s anti-Iran remarks and his threat to pull out of the JCPOA have

drawn extensive and mixed reactions, bringing to the fore discussions on Tehran’s reactions to Washington’s new policies. Iranian Parliament Speaker Ali Larijani stressed in an interview with NTV that Iran has an organized plan to continue its nuclear activities.

 

Larijani: Iran OK’s Plan on Responding to US; Americans Will Regret

The parliament speaker, who has travelled to Russia to attend the IPU meeting, talked to reporters on the sidelines of the event.

“Trump is not responsible for confirming Iran’s compliance with its obligations under the JCPOA; rather, it is the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) which is responsible, and it has, so far, corroborated Iran’s compliance eight times,” he said.

He referred to his meetings with parliament speakers of other countries in recent days, and said the United States is regarded as a “trouble-making country” these days. He then touched upon Washington’s sanctions on Moscow, saying, “It is not only Iran that has problems with the US. Other countries also believe that the US has not treated them well.

He said US sanctions against Iran will be a nonstarter, according to a Farsi report by ICANA.

“Other countries do not agree with the US [on this issue], and if Trump maintains his approach, Iran is likely to react to that,” said Larijani.

Larijani was questioned by reporters whether Iran has prepared a plan to continue its nuclear activities if Washington withdraws from the JCPOA.

“Yes,” Larijani responded.

“We have an organized plan and a specific law. Recently, too, we decided in parliament what measures to adopt against US actions. Iran has a clear program vis-à-vis Washington’s different scenarios. We will do something that’ll make the Americans sorry,” Larijani noted.

 

MP Warns France about Its Call for Non-Nuclear Talks

Saffar Nazari, a member of Parliament’s National Security and Foreign Policy Commission, has also expressed Iran’s view on the nuclear issue. He told ICANA that Iran will not enter into talks with the West outside the framework of the JCPOA.

He also reacted to remarks made by the French president, who had said in a meeting with Trump that Iran should be controlled and held answerable regarding its ballistic missile activities.

“Emmanuel Macron’s talks with Trump were not related to the JCPOA, and it should be said seriously that the missile industry [of Iran] is not negotiable,” said the MP.

“French officials have been told in a straightforward manner that Iran will not accept to return to talks on the JCPOA, and accordingly, it was decided that they rectify their previous positions in that regard,” said the legislator.

 

Iran Has Plans for US Possible Withdrawal from JCPOA

Mohamad Mahdi Eftekhari, another Iranian lawmaker, believes that Trump is not able to pull out of the JCPOA unilaterally.

“Trump’s claims about Iran’s performance regarding the JCPOA will worsen the situation and isolate Washington on the international stage,” said the legislator.

“The team from Iran’s Foreign Ministry first sat down for talks with the issue of ‘distrust in the US’ in mind, and Iranian diplomats had envisioned Washington’s possible withdrawal from the JCPOA, and the necessary mechanisms to deal with it had already been worked out,” he said.

Also, parliamentarian Behrouz Nemati told ICANA that “the United States’ 40-year objective is to overthrow the Iranian government.”

“The imposition of sanctions by one of the signatories to the JCPOA and the violation of the deal are impossible and unacceptable by Iran. Moreover, Iran and the five European countries which are parties to the agreement are opposed to the addition of a new addendum to the JCPOA,” he said.

 

Iran Favouring Nuke-Free World

Also present at the IPU meeting was top Iranian MP Mostafa Kavakebian. He highlighted Iran’s opposition to the proliferation of nuclear weapons, and said Iran favours a world free from nuclear weapons, and nuclear arms states should move toward disarmament.

He was speaking at a special IPU meeting on the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty.

“We should have not only a Middle East, but a world free from nuclear weapons. Iran’s initiative of creating a Middle East region free from nuclear arms presented in 1974 as well as the fatwa by Leader of the Islamic Revolution [Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei] which bans weapons of mass destruction, especially nuclear weapons, clearly shows our position on the issue,” he said.

“Unfortunately, international efforts to remove the major threat of nuclear weapons have been futile so far, and the most important reason behind this failure is those possessing nuclear weapons, which have not adopted any serious measures to live up to their commitments regarding denuclearization.”