An Iranian lawmaker says the country may launch an advanced enrichment program in case Washington continues to ignore its commitments under last year’s nuclear agreement between Iran and the P5+1 group of countries, including the United States.
Spokesman for the Iranian Parliament’s Presiding Board Behrouz Nemati told IRIB on Tuesday that the US reneging on its promises under the nuclear agreement, known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), runs counter to the deal.
“The JCPOA is a comprehensive collection and if the US does not fully implement it, we will respond in kind,” he added.
He said US officials claim that they have fulfilled their obligations but this is not supported by their actions and they should not act in a way that their words differ from their deeds.
The Iranian legislator added that nearly six months after the JCPOA implementation, big banks refrain from implementing the nuclear agreement and only small banks are conducting limited transactions with Iran.
Nemati said Iran expects the P5+1 group of countries to fulfill all its obligations under the JCPOA.
The lawmaker’s remarks came a day after Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei said that Iran’s experience in striking a nuclear agreement with the P5+1 group of countries was a clear example of the enemies’ untrustworthiness.
“Today, even the diplomatic officials and those who were present in the [nuclear] negotiations reiterate the fact that the US is breaching its promises, and while speaking softly and sweetly [to Iran], is busy obstructing and damaging Iran’s economic relations with other countries,” Ayatollah Khamenei said on Monday.
The JCPOA between Iran and the five permanent members of the UN Security Council -- the United States, Britain, France, China, Russia -- plus Germany envisages Tehran scaling back its nuclear program in return for the lifting of all nuclear-related sanctions on the Islamic Republic.
However, months after the agreement went into effect on January 16, the United States and the European Union continue to maintain some sanctions on Iran, scaring off companies from resuming trade with the country.
European banks have balked at the idea of resuming transaction with Iran, fearing punitive US measures. US Republicans, meanwhile, are pushing through three anti-Iran bills in the Congress.