Iran lawmakers urge negotiators to secure guarantees US won’t violate JCPOA again

Iranian lawmakers have urged the negotiating team in the talks with the P4+1 group of countries in Vienna to protect the fundamental elements of the country’s nuclear program as the “strongest guarantee” that the United States will never repeat the violation of its obligations as per the landmark 2015 Iran deal.

“We call on the negotiating team to seriously pursue obtaining adequate economic, technical and political guarantees from the American side to ensure that this country will not repeat its illegal withdrawal from the agreement,” the legislators said in a statement issued on Tuesday.

It also stressed the importance of demanding compensation from the United States for the damages it has inflicted on the Iranian people’s livelihood.

The Iranian lawmakers called on the negotiating team not to be bound by deadlines set by the West, follow up on national interests and main demands, and observe the country’s red lines, without wasting time.

“Now that the Ukraine crisis has led to an increase in the West’s need for Iran’s energy, America’s need for a reduction in oil prices must not be met without the fulfillment of Iran’s demands,” they said.

The Iranian lawmakers urged a “comprehensive and effective” removal of the US sanctions, rejecting any pretexts such as the non-nuclear label of the restrictions or their being unrelated to the 2015 deal, officially named the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA).

According to the statement, verification of the sanctions removal is a legitimate right of the Islamic Republic.

“Verification of the sanctions removal must be objective, accurate, and purely done by Iran. Weak statements of the United States and Europe should not suffice,” it said.

It added that the precise settlement of the safeguards issues between Iran and the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) is necessary in order to achieve a durable agreement in Vienna, and the UN nuclear watchdog must close the case of baseless claims against Iran.

The lawmakers said they would pursue any agreement which would enable Iran to enjoy all the economic benefits stipulated in the JCPOA and restore the Iranian nation’s rights.

While emphasizing the importance of sanctions removal, they said the key to solving the problems of the country’s economy is neutralizing the sanctions and called on the administration to adopt strategies to make that happen.

The United States left the JCPOA in 2018 and began to implement what it called the “maximum pressure” campaign of sanctions against the Islamic Republic, depriving the country of the economic benefits of the agreement, including the removal of sanctions, for which Iran had agreed to certain caps on its nuclear activities.

In the meantime, the other parties to the deal, in particular France, Britain and Germany, only paid lip service to safeguarding Iran’s economic dividends as promised under the JCPOA, prompting Iran – after an entire year of “strategic patience” – to reduce its nuclear obligations in a legal move under the deal.

The Vienna talks began last April between Iran and the remaining parties to the JCPOA- Britain, France, Germany, Russia and China- on the assumption that the US, under the Biden administration, is willing to repeal the so-called maximum pressure policy pursued by former president, Donald Trump, against Tehran.

Speaking at a meeting of the Assembly of Experts on Tuesday, Iranian President Ebrahim Raeisi said Tehran has not backed down on any of its red lines in the ongoing negotiations in Vienna and it will never do so in the future.

Iran will never back down from its red lines in Vienna talks: President Raeisi

Iran’s President Raeisi says Tehran will never back down on any of its red lines in the ongoing negotiations with the P4+1 group of countries in Vienna.

Raeisi said his administration was pursuing the Vienna negotiations in accordance with the principles and framework laid out by Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei.

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