News   /   Politics

JCPOA not to change Iran policy on US: Cleric

Ayatollah Mohammad Yazdi, chairman of Iran's Assembly of Experts, delivers a speech in the opening ceremony of the body's 18th gathering in Tehran on September 1, 2015. (Mehr photo)

A senior Iranian cleric says the country's recent nuclear agreement with the six world powers would not change the Islamic Republic's policy vis-a-vis the United States.

"We have to be careful for the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) not to change [our] foreign policy. Iran considers the US as its top enemy and the crimes it is committing are uncountable," Ayatollah Mohammad Yazdi, the chairman of Iran’s senior clerical body Assembly of Experts, said Tuesday.

Under the JCPOA signed in Vienna in July, limits will be put on Iran’s nuclear activities in exchange for, among other things, the removal of all economic and financial bans against the Islamic Republic.

"We have to tell the US that they will definitely take to their grave the dream of Iran becoming their consumer market," Ayatollah Yazdi said. 

The opening ceremony of the 18th meeting of Iran's Assembly of Experts in Tehran on September 1, 2015. (Mehr photo)

 

He said recent visits to Tehran by foreign business delegates would not result in the restoration of relations. “Negotiation has nothing to do with bilateral or trilateral relations, and relations cannot be established through their companies' visits from time to time.”

Yazdi also touched upon the ongoing crises in the Middle East, saying they are rooted in the policies of the United States which is after “Israel’s hegemony” in the region.

"The relations between the US and Israel is such that they (the Americans) are ready to set fire to [the entire] Middle East to protect Israel," he said.

The high-ranking body of the Assembly of Experts elects and oversees the activities of the Leader of the Islamic Revolution. Members of the assembly are directly elected to office by people for an eight-year term. It holds biannual meetings to appoint a new chairman.


Press TV’s website can also be accessed at the following alternate addresses:

www.presstv.co.uk

SHARE THIS ARTICLE
Press TV News Roku