In a recent interview with the Foreign Affairs, John Kerry said that “Iran is engaged in Yemen and supporting Assad and supporting Hezbollah and firing missiles that people deem to be threatening and so forth.”
He said such stances hugely complicates efforts to move forward rapidly with regard to the nuclear deal implementation and the removal of barriers to business.
In reaction, Iran’s Deputy Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi said, “John Kerry’s remarks are nothing but an excuse for the US to avoid carrying out its JCPOA commitments.”
Araqchi, who is also the head of the JCPOA follow-up committee, stressed that Kerry’s remarks are “absolutely wrong and incorrect” as the US must grant Tehran access to financial, banking, technology and commerce markets according to its commitments stipulated in the JCPOA.
“In the JCPOA, they accepted to avoid carrying out any action which would hinder the normalization of commercial and banking ties with Iran,” he said, as reported by Press TV.
Araqchi went on to note that the US must refrain from using excuses for hindrances in JCPOA’s implementation, and they are by no means acceptable to Iran.
Iran and world powers signed the nuclear deal, dubbed the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), on July 2015. The deal went into effect on January 16, 2016, and resolved a long-running dispute over the Iranian nuclear program.
Under the JCPOA, the Islamic Republic has agreed to roll back certain aspects of its nuclear program — including the volume of its uranium stockpiles enriched to the 20-percent level — and has provided international atomic monitors enhanced access to its nuclear facilities. In return, Iran’s partners agreed to terminate all nuclear-related sanctions against Iran.
