President Rouhani made the remark in a telephone conversation with his Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, following Trump’s decision to withdraw from the multilateral agreement signed between Iran and the 5+1 on Iran’s nuclear program, and to reinstate sanctions that were lifted under the agreement.
Resolution 2231 was adopted by the UNSC in July 2015 to endorse the JCPOA, which obliged the US as one of the seven signatories to the deal to remove nuclear-related sanctions against Iran in response to Tehran’s agreement to curb its nuclear activities.
During the telephone conversation, Rouhani stressed that the JCPOA is a significant international agreement for development of international stability and security, as well as the Treaty on Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT), adding “the Islamic Republic of Iran has complied with all its obligations under the JCPOA as verified in all the 11 reports issued by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).”
He described the JCPOA as a seven-party agreement approved by the United Nations, adding "unfortunately, the US government unilaterally withdrew from this international agreement, and we expect all world leaders to condemn this move.”
The Iranian president maintained that the important thing for Iran now is to take full advantage of the benefits of the nuclear deal in absence of US participation, and said “Europe, and particularly the five signatories to the JCPOA, should announce their actions and stances clearly in the remaining short time to compensate for the withdrawal of the United States.”
“Iran and Turkey will always stand by each other like two intimate brothers against illegal acts in the international community, and have each other’s backs in different situations,” said Rouhani, adding that the US government should not be allowed to force other countries to follow its own domestic laws.
Rouhani further underscored the need for efforts to develop business, economic, and investment ties between Tehran and Ankara, adding "using national currencies in business transactions, expanding preferential trade and developing banking relations between Iran and Turkey are very important as they will obviate the need to use foreign exchange in our trade.”
Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, for his part, deemed the JCPOA a successful agreement in the world, and stressed the need for collective efforts to preserve it; “Turkey considers the US decision to exit the Iran nuclear deal as a mistake, and has officially stated that it will not accept the US position at all.”
"Negotiation for maintaining and continuing JCPOA’s implementation is very effective and essential for the security and stability of the region and the world," said the Turkish president, noting that the US would be the actual loser of this decision.
Erdoğan also called for development of economic relations, banking cooperation, the use of national currencies in business relations and the expansion of preferential trade between Iran and Turkey following the US’ withdrawal from the JCPOA, adding “we should make every effort to protect the economies of our countries from intervention of others.”
MS/4293123