Iran Foreign Minister Opposes Renegotiation of Nuclear Deal

by Jo Youjin

Published 31 Jan.2021 05:51(KST)

[Asia Economy Reporter Yujin Cho] The Iranian Ministry of Foreign Affairs has dismissed the possibility of renegotiating the nuclear agreement, the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), with major world powers.

On the 30th (local time), Saeed Khatibzadeh, spokesperson for the Iranian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, stated, "The nuclear agreement is a multilateral international agreement approved by UN Security Council Resolution 2231, leaving no room for negotiation, and the participating countries in the agreement are clear and unchangeable."

The JCPOA is an agreement signed in 2015 between Iran and six countries, including the five permanent members of the UN Security Council?the United States, the United Kingdom, France, Russia, China?and Germany. Under the agreement, Iran agreed to abandon nuclear development, and the six countries agreed to lift economic sanctions against Iran.

When then-US President Donald Trump unilaterally announced the withdrawal from the nuclear agreement in May 2018 and reinstated sanctions against Iran, Iran reduced the scope of its compliance, putting the agreement at risk of collapse.

The new Biden administration set the resumption of Iran's obligations as a condition for returning to the Iran nuclear agreement, which the Trump administration had unilaterally withdrawn from.

Saudi Arabia and its ally, the United Arab Emirates (UAE), previously demanded that all negotiations addressing Iran's ballistic missile program and support for proxy forces in the Middle East include the Arab countries of the Gulf.

French President Emmanuel Macron also told reporters the day before that "dialogue with Iran will become stricter" and that "the nuclear negotiations should include Gulf region allies such as Saudi Arabia," according to Saudi state media.

Regarding this, spokesperson Khatibzadeh criticized, "If France is concerned about large-scale arms exports to the Persian Gulf Arab countries, it would be better to change its policy," adding, "Western weapons, including French arms, not only cause the massacre of thousands of Yemenis but are also a major cause of regional instability."

Iran, together with its strong protector Russia, is advocating for the full restoration of the JCPOA. After a meeting in Moscow on the 26th, Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif and Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov held a joint press conference urging the United States to promptly return to the JCPOA and for all related countries to fully restore the agreement.