Iran Fully Observes Nuclear Deal, America Flagrantly Breaches It

by Stephen Lendman

On December 18, during a Tehran visit, IAEA director general Yukiya Amano said "Iran has been committed to its (JCPOA nuclear deal) obligations, and this is an important matter."

The IAEA, under Amano's direction, is tasked with monitoring the JCPOA's implementation. Iran fully complies with its provisions.

Atomic Energy Organization of Iran (AEOI) head Ali Akbar Salehi urged Amano to continue "acting as an impartial international authority, whose reports do not reflect leverage or influence peddling by any party."

Separately, President Hassan Rouhani said "(w)e that this international institution perform its responsibility in the area of technical cooperation, the transfer of peaceful nuclear technology, and nuclear trade, too."

JCPOA's "sustainability (depends on) compliance by all parties. The Islamic Republic will honor its commitments as long as other parties honor theirs."

US renewal of the Iran Sanctions Act (ISA) flagrantly breaches it, again showing Washington's word isn't its bond. Quite the opposite by extending illegally imposed sanctions through December 2026.

In a letter to EU foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini, Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif called for "a meeting of the joint commission outlined in the nuclear deal…regarding the recent actions of the United States."

In an early December letter to Ban Ki-moon, its UN envoy Gholam Ali Khoshrou blasted Washington's action, saying "(t)he government of the Islamic Republic of Iran considers the recent US Congress approval on renewal of anti-Iran sanctions as blatant contradiction to the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) and violation of the US commitments under the nuclear agreement."

JCPOA terms require the lifting of US and international sanctions, in return for Tehran agreeing to curtail its legitimate non-military nuclear program, fully complying with Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) terms.

Last week, Obama let the ISA become US law by failing to veto it responsibly. Washington claiming it complies with JCPOA is patently false.

Earlier, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei warned Iran would retaliate if America renewed illegal sanctions, saying:

"So far, the current US government has committed several violations with regard to the nuclear agreement." 

"The most recent of them is the 10-year extension of the sanctions. If these sanctions are extended, it will surely constitute a violation of the JCPOA and (Washington) should know that the Islamic Republic will definitely react to it."

Despite Trump's JCPOA opposition, it's unclear what he'll do as president, perhaps nothing with the ISA extended another 10 years.

Stephen Lendman lives in Chicago. He can be reached at lendmanstephen@sbcglobal.net. 

His new book as editor and contributor is titled "Flashpoint in Ukraine: How the US Drive for Hegemony Risks WW III."

http://www.claritypress.com/LendmanIII.html

Visit his blog site at sjlendman.blogspot.com. 

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