Is Iran planning to terminate nuclear deal?

Iran’s foreign minister Mohammad Javad Zarif warns that Tehran is ready to restore its nuclear activities to the level it was before the 2015 nuclear deal with the P5+1 states, should Washington fail to honor its side of the agreement.

Speaking to reporters in the central Iranian city of Esfahan on Monday, Mohammad Zarif underscored Iran’s determination to abide by its commitments under the nuclear accord, officially called the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA).

Iran “is fully prepared to return to the pre-JCPOA situation or even [to conditions] more robust than that if the US reneges on its promises to the extent that the JCPOA’s continuation harms our national interests,” PressTV cited Zarif as saying.

"As it was said by the Supreme Leader (of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei), Iran is committed to the promises it has made and is not to break them," he noted.

Zarif further said Iranian nuclear scientists have managed to put into operation “the country’s most advanced centrifuge” over the past two months, adding, “At present, we possess the know-how to manufacture and use centrifuges with [an enrichment] capacity 20 times more than those of the previous centrifuges.”

A senior research fellow of the Institute for Oriental Studies of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Vladimir Sazhin, speaking with the correspondent of Vestnik Kavkaza, noted that Zarif's statement is likely to be a political message to the United States and Western Europe. "The new administration of President Trump is against the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action. But not everyone in the US supports Trump, and many European countries have already received certain dividends from the implementation of the nuclear deal and the gradual lifting of sanctions from Iran. In particular, the European Union has restored trade, economic and financial ties with Iran and it is completely unprofitable for it to break the agreement," he pointed out.

"Therefore, this statement by the Iranian foreign minister about the readiness to break the deal is a test ball towards Western Europe, to make the European Union start resisting the Trump administration's behavior. In legal terms, it is difficult to terminate the JCPOA, since this is an international agreement, confirmed by the UN Security Council resolution. I do not think that Iran is actually ready to take such a step, as well as the United States, especially since two years have already passed, and according to the IAEA, Iran and its opponents fulfill the requirements of the JCPOA, "Vladimir Sazhin stressed.

The expert drew attention to the fact that the nuclear deal with Iran is a historical event, which is important to preserve. "I hope that Zarif's statement will not result in a real break in this most important document for the whole world, which became the first such agreement for the entire nuclear era since 1945. The plan is designed for 10, in some aspects for 15 years, there is still much work to do, and all countries, as well as the UN and the IAEA should help Iran fulfill it," the senior research fellow of the Institute for Oriental Studies of the Russian Academy of Sciences concluded.

A senior fellow at the Center for the Study of the Middle East of the Institute of Oriental Studies of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Candidate of Historical Sciences Elena Dunayeva, in turn, told about the internal reasons for Mohammad Javad Zarif's statement. "Although it is more reaction to the sharp attacks by the US and the actions of some Arab states of the Persian Gulf, it is also a desire to show that Iran does not stick to the JCPOA. A few days ago, the most vivid statements of the spiritual leader of Iran, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei were published and the top ten includes the words that if the West rejects the JCPOA, Tehran would burn this plan. That is, Iran stressed that it will not leave the deal first," she said.

"Now the electoral struggle in Iran is entering the last stage. Zarif is representing President Hassan Rouhani's team, and the greatest number of accusations from the opposition claim that Iran has incorrectly concluded the JCPOA and it is necessary either to reconsider it, toughening its position, or completely reject it. So, it is quite possible that Zarif's statement is also a pre-election move, as it shows that the Rouhani government does not hold onto the JCPOA with all its might, and is also a demonstration of a certain strength in front of the United States," Elena Dunaeva concluded.