Zarif: Tehran Could ‘Walk Away’ From Nuclear Deal

Local Editor

Iran has all options on the table, including pulling out of the 2015 nuclear agreement and bolstering its nuclear program at a "greater speed," should President Trump decertify the pact, Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif told CNN.

"Iran has a number of options, which include walking away from the deal and going back with greater speed with this nuclear program," Zarif said in an interview with Fareed Zakaria on his CNN show "GPS," aired Sunday.

The minister stressed that Iran's nuclear program "will remain peaceful," but "will not address and accept the limitations that we voluntarily accepted."

In case the US leader doesn't recertify the nuclear agreement in mid-October, Tehran will consider options in response. Trump said he has "decided" how to proceed with the agreement but did not publicly share his decision.

Zarif, however, noted that certification is not part of the deal and is only "the US internal procedure."

"It doesn't absolve President Trump and the administration of the responsibility because the only authority that has been recognized in the nuclear deal to verify [compliance with the deal] is the IAEA [International Atomic Energy Agency]," the minister said.

The nuclear deal, officially known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action [JCPOA], has to be re-assessed every 90 days by the US president in accordance with a Congress-created mechanism. The next deadline set for October 15. If Trump decides to decertify, Congress will have 60 days to vote on re-imposing the sanctions, lifted under the pact in exchange for Tehran capping its nuclear program.

"Iran has committed itself never to develop nuclear weapons, both as a member of the NPT [Non-Proliferation Treaty] and in the [JCPOA] deal itself," Zarif continued, deriding a so-called "sunset clause" to the 2015 pact, which Trump claims would erase some of its restrictions over time, as a "myth" existing in Washington.

Having repeatedly stated that Tehran violated the agreement's "spirit," despite the pact's watchdog IAEA confirming Iran's compliance, Trump reluctantly issued certification in the past.

However, Trump recently signaled he might not proceed with the deal, calling it "an embarrassment" and "one of the worst and most one-sided transactions."

Source: News Agencies, Edited by website team