News / Nuclear Energy

Iran warns of reciprocation over JCPOA breach

Monday, 18 January 2016 11:00 AM [ Last Update: Monday, 18 January 2016 1:06 PM ]

The combo photo shows Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei (L) and Iran’s President Hassan Rouhani

Iran’s President Hassan Rouhani says the Islamic Republic will respond in kind if the P5+1 group fails to fulfill its commitments under a landmark nuclear agreement clinched in July 2015.

In a letter to Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei on Monday, Rouhani stressed that his administration will keep a watchful eye on the opposite side’s compliance with its commitments stipulated in the agreement, dubbed the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), to “foil enemies’ attempts to take advantage of the agreement to infiltrate” the country.

“The administration… is determined to precisely and seriously monitor the fulfillment of the opposite side’s commitments and will, through prudent realism and far from any extreme optimism, take reciprocal measures in case of any renege on promises,” Rouhani said.

The Iranian president expressed gratitude to the Leader for his support during the nuclear negotiations and enumerated the achievements that the JCPOA has brought for the Islamic Republic.

Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif and European Union foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini read out a joint statement in the Austrian capital, Vienna, on Saturday, announcing that the JCPOA had indeed come into force.

Iran and the five permanent members of the UN Security Council – the United States, Britain, France, Russia and China – plus Germany had finalized the JCPOA in Vienna on July 14, 2015.

Rouhani underlined that the Iranian nation’s right to peaceful nuclear technology has been restored and that the world has recognized Tehran’s nuclear program on an industrial scale.

The letter also reads that under the JCPOA, Iran will continue uranium enrichment as “the most sensitive and important part” of its nuclear program.

The Arak heavy water reactor will also be modernized through international cooperation, the letter said.

Rouhani also said that the nuclear agreement thwarted efforts by enemies of Iran to depict a “false” image of Islamic Revolution.

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