If the US, France, Germany and the UK do not act timely, we will say goodbye to the Additional Protocol on February 21, said Alireza Zakani on Sunday in the open session of Iranian Parliament, adding, "We will witness a decrease in the number of IAEA inspectors compared to what Iran has promised in the NPT."
The Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) is a document that will not remain except with the lifting of sanctions, he added.
The US President Donald Trump withdrew the US from the 2015 deal, more formally known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) which was signed by the five permanent members of the UN Security Council — the US, the UK, China, Russia, and France — plus Germany and the EU and reimposed sweeping economic sanctions against the Islamic Republic of Iran.
After the illegitimate US exit from the JCPOA in May 2018, the three European signatories to the deal remained indifferent to making up for Iran’s losses.
Amid the Europeans’ lack of action, Iran took five steps to reduce its commitments to the deal while vowing that it will reverse the course as soon as the other parties live up to their commitments under the accord.
Recently, the Iranian parliament passed a bill, dubbed the Strategic Action Plan to Counter Sanctions in early last December, setting a Feb. 21 deadline for Biden to lift the US sanctions. Otherwise, Iran will halt inspections of its nuclear sites by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) and further boost uranium enrichment.
Iran has so far resumed 20% uranium enrichment at Fordow plant in accordance with the Parliament’s legislation and has warned that in the case Washington does not remove all the anti-Iran illegitimate sanctions, it will also stop voluntary implementation of the Additional Protocol, which gives IAEA inspectors unannounced visits to Iranian facilities.
Meanwhile, Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei highlighted that Iran will not return to its commitments unless the US lifts all sanctions and Tehran verifies Washington's measures.
ZZ/