U.S. Not in a Position to Comment on Iran Nuclear Deal
IRAN NEWS POLITICAL DESK
TEHRAN- Iran says the United States must stop seeking to secure its short-term interests at the cost of other nations’ long-term prosperity.
“JCPOA is neither the first nor the last of the multilateral achievements Trump withdrew from,” said Iran’s Foreign Ministry spokesman Abbas Mousavi in a tweet on Friday, referring by acronym to the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, the 2015 nuclear deal between Tehran and world powers, from which U.S. President Donald Trump withdrew in 2018.
“The U.S. regime has sought to secure its short-term interests at the cost of nations’ long-term prosperity,” Mousavi added.
“The regime must END its abject unilateralism,” he said, adding that the “irresponsible” U.S. can never be trusted.
As part of the JCPOA, the UN arms embargo on Iran — in place since 2006/2007- are to be lifted in October 2020 — five years after the JCPOA took effect.
With the date looming, the U.S. has shared with some members of the Security Council a draft resolution to prolong the arms embargo indefinitely.
To circumvent China and Russia’s veto of the resolution, which are both parties to the JCPOA, the US will argue that it legally remains a “participant state” in the deal only to invoke a “snapback” that would restore the UN sanctions, which had been in place against Iran prior to the JCPOA’s inking.
Meanwhile, a former Iranian diplomat believes the U.S. bid to “return” to the JCPOA is part of a wider plot to extend its pressure on the Islamic Republic after the failure of its “maximum pressure” policy.
Abolfazl Zohrehvand, a former Iranian ambassador to Italy and Afghanistan, says the US’ withdrawal from the nuclear deal caused troubles for them despite their earlier assumption.
“Now the Americans seek to re-enter the JCPOA to create a fresh round of pressure, and are in fact seeking to use the JCPOA capacities to further arms sanctions on the Islamic Republic,” he said in a Friday radio interview.
Meanwhile the U.S. Senate failed Thursday to override President Trump’s veto of a war powers resolution limiting his authority to use military force in Iran. The vote was 49 to 45.
Mr. Trump vetoed the bill Wednesday night, calling it a “very insulting resolution” that Democrats had introduced “as part of a strategy to win an election on November 3 by dividing the Republican Party.”
The bill, sponsored by Democratic Senator Tim Kaine, passed on a bipartisan basis in the Senate in February, and later passed in the House in March.
However, the Senate needed a two-thirds majority to override the president’s veto. When it voted on the resolution in February, it passed 55 to 45, with eight Republicans joining all Democrats to approve it.
The resolution came after the U.S. assassinated Iranian general Qassem Soleimani, leading to escalating tensions between the U.S. and Iran. It demanded the removal of U.S. Armed Forces from hostilities against Iran within 30 days unless their engagement was approved by Congress.
Democrats and Republicans expressed concerns after Mr. Trump ordered the strike on Martyr Soleimani without congressional approval, leading Iran to retaliate by targeting American bases in Iraq, where dozens of American soldiers were injured. Iran also mistakenly hit a Ukrainian passenger plane, leading to the deaths of nearly 200 people.
