Mr. Zarif sat on Tuesday in 22nd meeting of Tehran Chamber of Commerce to defend the deal which he believed was proud of; “I believe JCPOA would not face very difficult situations, provided that we work hard to keep the deal living; statistics show that with sanctions in effect against Iran, oil prices tumbled; in terms of banking transactions, the number of institutes working with Iranian banking system was 670 before sanctions, which dramatically low, around 50 institutes who engaged in any sort of financial cooperation with Iran,” he told the meeting. “Such gradually-imposed conditions would not be lifted overnight and time should pass so that the country recovers from the crippling sanctions.”
Zarif’s defense of the JCPOA included his taking pride on the deal and he rejected claims that he had been quite regretful about the deal; “it was an achievement for the country and I would not regret the deal; it managed to alleviate the intensity of sanctions tangentially related to our nuclear program, but nevertheless was crucial in ushering in a new era when international community would not easily tricked into believing that political costs of cooperation with Iran would hit their position,” Zarif emphasized. “Sanctions functioned more as a mood of fear and anxiety than it did as a set of rules discouraging working with Iran; this per se mounted pressures on Iran along with new allegations and concerns, albeit unfounded.”
Zarif also denounced the critiques leveled against snap-back clause in the deal was to indicate that Iranian negotiators unilaterally invested trust upon the 5+1; “the snap-back clause serves both sides by mandating that both sides should remain committed to the deal provisions; it also shows the deep distrust of both sides; we believe snap-back clause had been a good measure for the success of the deal; if the Islamic Republic of Iran finds for even a moment that deal does not benefit its interests, the clause will allow us to return to status quo ante, that is, conditions before JCPOA,” he told the meeting.
“However, their snapping back the sanctions would be a painful and lengthy process where they should peruse more than 1000 financial institutions to sever relations with Iranian financial system, and will not be an immediate action,” Zarif emphasized.
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