“The situation was not supposed to be like this. We expected that all economic ties would be normalized and sanctions would be lifted. If we accept this, we have accepted our right just to this level," Chairman of Iranian Parliament’s National Security and Foreign Policy Commission Mojtaba Zonnour said on Sunday in Qom province's administrative council.
The $15 billion credit line has been proposed by the French side in a bid to salvage the 2015 Iran nuclear deal in the wake of US’ unilateral withdrawal and Iran’s countermeasures in reducing commitments to the agreement.
European countries’ trades with US stands at around $1000 billion while their trade with Iran is some $20 billion, he hinted, adding, “for this reason, they don’t want to pay the price for their commitments to the JCPOA; rather, they just seek to keep it in place.”
Upon announcing his withdrawal from the JCPOA, US President Trump called it the "worst deal ever" and pledged to force Iran through sanctions into renegotiating a new agreement that addresses its ballistic missiles and regional influence.
The Trump administration has ever since targeted Iran's industry and oil exports with various sanctions in a bid to cripple its economy. The European side has also failed to deliver on its pledge to save mutual trade by enacting a special payment channel that protects European firms from US sanctions months after unveiling it in January.
Fed up with the foot-dragging, Iran announced that it is reducing commitments to the deal in a transparent and step-by-step approach according to paragraphs 26 and 36 of the agreement.
MAH/IRN 83476180
Your Comment