US vows to change course on JCPOA: Rouhani

Iranian President Hassan Rouhani says the United States has promised to change the way it is implementing last year’s nuclear agreement reached between Iran and the P5+1 group of countries.

Speaking to reporters upon his arrival in Tehran from New York on Friday, Rouhani added that the ministerial meeting of a commission established to monitor the implementation of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) confirmed that the US is not complying with the nuclear agreement.

“The Joint Commission verified the Islamic Republic of Iran’s stance and did not see the US conduct as consistent with the JCPOA,” the Iranian president said.

“In the ministerial meeting of the Joint Commission on the implementation of the JCPOA, all [sides] told the US what it is conducting is not consistent with the JCPOA and the US promised to rectify this trend,” he added.

Iran and the five permanent members of the UN Security Council – the United States, Britain, France, China and Russia – plus Germany signed the JCPOA on July 14, 2015. It went into effect on January 16, 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.

Some international banks, however, still shy away from financing trade deals and processing transactions with Iran fearing US penalties.

The Iranian president said the Islamic Republic has the right to make use of the opportunity created after the nuclear agreement’s implementation and “seriously challenge any possible breach.”

Rouhani was in New York to deliver a speech at the 71st Session of the United Nations General Assembly. On the sidelines of the event, he held talks with senior officials including the prime ministers of Italy, Britain, Norway, Sweden, Iraq, Pakistan, Japan and Greece and the presidents of France, Bulgaria, Slovenia, Switzerland and Turkey. He also sat down with UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon.

The Iranian president attended a joint press conference following his speech on Thursday and met Muslim leaders and American intellectuals.

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