US in no position to undermine nuclear deal’s achievements: Iran

Iran says the United States has forfeited all rights to bring the 2015 Iran nuclear deal’s achievements into doubt, urging Washington and its European allies against trying to damage the agreement any further.

“The Americans, due to their destructive actions against the JCPOA and Resolution 2231, have lost the position to question the deal's achievements,” ministry spokesman Abbas Mousavi told a press conference on Monday.

The Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) is the official name of the historic nuclear accord that was signed between the Islamic Republic and the P5+1 group of states -- the US, the UK, France, Russia, and China plus Germany -- in Vienna that year, while Resolution 2231 refers to the UN Security Council resolution that enshrined the deal after it was concluded.

The agreement led to many achievements, including certain voluntary changes to Iran’s nuclear energy program and the lifting of nuclear-related sanctions against the Islamic Republic. It also foresaw the removal of an arms embargo against the country in October.

The United States, however, began discrediting the JCPOA in 2018 by leaving the accord and returning the sanctions. And now, it is trying to prevent the removal of the arms embargo, although, it is no longer a JCPOA partner.

US envoy renews push for extending arms embargo on Iran

The US special representative for Iran, Brian Hook, has renewed his country’s call for extending an arms embargo on Tehran.

Mousavi critiqued Washington and its Western allies’ attitude towards Iran’s defensive capability as witnessed, among other things, in their bid to extend the embargo, calling their approach “inadmissible.”

The country “does not stand on ceremony when it comes to its defensive capability,” he added, and advised the allies to stop trying to violate the Resolution.

Extension of the arms embargo “carries its own repercussions,” the official said, warning that Tehran has planned several “special measures” to take in the event of the ban’s prolongation.

He, however, said, “We predict another defeat for the US in this area,” adding, “I don’t think things will proceed in such a way (as far as the embargo’s extension).”

US elections

The Islamic Republic would not interfere in the US or any other country’s internal affairs, Mousavi said, turning to the issue of the United States’ next presidential polls.

What goes on between American electoral candidates concerns their own internal and party political affairs and “is of no consequence to us how they choose to decide their country’s fate,” he noted.

What is important for Iran is the US’s regional policy, according to which Iran regulates its behavior, the official pointed out.

Regional fight against terror

Mousavi then addressed a recent coincidence between Iran and Turkey’s attacks on the terrorist Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK)’s elements along the countries’ borders.

Despite the coincidence, there was currently no joint operation against the anti-Ankara separatist group, he said, but notified that the anti-terror fight was on the joint agenda of the regional countries, including Iran, Turkey, and Iraq where the terrorists could engage in border area activity.

European havens for terrorists

The spokesman renewed the Islamic Republic’s criticism of some European countries for their providing safe havens for anti-Iran groups, including the terrorist cult of the Mujahedin Khalq Organization (MKO) that is responsible for slaying around 17,000 Iranians since the 1979 victory of Iran’s Islamic Revolution.

Iran has, time and again, cautioned the countries against housing the terrorists, who have the blood of the Iranian people on their hands, he said, adding the issue of their accommodating the terrorists constitutes “one of our main issues with the Europeans.”

The Islamic Republic wonders how those European states suddenly took the MKO out of their terror lists, Mousavi said.

He, however, called the MKO “a disintegrated and displaced group in Europe,” whose effectuality does not go much beyond causing social media fanfare.

Humanitarian blockade on Iran

The official, meanwhile, pointed to the ongoing prevention of the transfer of humanitarian supplies to the Islamic Republic.

He reminded how these supplies, including medical items, were exempted from the US’s illegal sanctions after Tehran won an International Court of Justice case against Washington.

“Although, medical and humanitarian items are exempt from the bans, they have practically blocked their entrance into the country,” Mousavi said.

“Here, we’re addressing the European firms and countries, for whom the human rights issues are apparently very important,” he said.

Romania should be transparent on fugitive judge’s death

The official separately urged Romania to trust Iran with more information in the aftermath of a fugitive former Iranian judge’s recent death in Bucharest.

Gholamreza Mansouri’s body was found at a hotel in the Romanian capital earlier in June. Mansouri was a co-defendant in a major financial corruption trial that is currently underway in Iran.

“There are some ambiguities concerning this issue, and the Romanian government has not done anything yet, despite our requests,” Mousavi said.

He asked Bucharest to help Iran clarify the matter in light of the case’s “sensitivity and complexity.”

The corruption case also involves former deputy head of the Judiciary Akbar Tabari. Prior to Mansouri’s death, Iran had urged that he be rounded up and extradited to the country.

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