Categories: IFP ExclusiveNuclear

Source: Jalili recommends JCPOA withdrawal, 90% enrichment

The Leader of the Islamic Revolution's envoy to Iran's Supreme National Security Council Saeed Jalili has written a letter to Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamanei calling for Tehran to abandon the 2015 nuclear deal and enrich uranium to over 90% purity before holding direct talks with the United States, an informed source has said.

Saeed Jalili

According to the source quoted by Iranian daily Shargh, in his letter, Jalili explicitly expresses his opposition to the current path of negotiations in Vienna and stresses that Iran must withdraw from the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action now.

Jalili, who served as the lead nuclear negotiator under former President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, predicts that the other side will face legal problems in pursuing the snapback of the main nuclear sanctions against Iran.

According to the source, Jalili believes that any snapback of sanctions will require a referral to the UN Security Council, but Russia and China will use their veto powers and block the efforts of the Europeans and the United States.

The former nuclear negotiator believes when Iran pulls out of the JCPOA and intensifies uranium enrichment, it can sit down for talks with the U.S. and secure the removal of all sanctions.

The source says Jalili wrote the letter after he failed to convince Foreign Minister Hossein Amir Abdollahian and lead negotiator Ali Bagheri Kani to abandon the current path of negotiations.

Jalili has yet to comment on this report.

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