Iran Will Return to Full Compliance With JCPOA if US Lifts Sanctions, FM Zarif Says

Tehran will resume full compliance with the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) if the US lifts sanctions that currently hinder Iran's cooperation with foreign nations, Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif said on Tuesday.

The minister said that Washington should "stop its sanctions pressure", cancelling all obstacles on the way to Iran's cooperation with other countries.

"If these problems are solved, then we will come back to comply fully with the JCPOA. We will welcome the IAEA [International Atomic Energy Agency] inspectors just as the protocol says ... We will be ready to return to full compliance. That is something that has been said by our leader, the supreme leader. If the United States remove sanctions we will come back to comply with the agreement in full", Zarif said at a press conference, held after his meeting with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov.

A picture taken on November 10, 2019, shows an Iranian flag in Iran's Bushehr nuclear power plant, during an official ceremony to kick-start works on a second reactor at the facility. - Bushehr is Iran's only nuclear power station and is currently running on imported fuel from Russia that is closely monitored by the UN's International Atomic Energy Agency.

© AFP 2023 / ATTA KENARE

The 2015 nuclear deal has been in jeopardy since 2018, when then-US President Donald Trump withdrew the US from the accord, saying it was flawed from the start and accusing Iran of trying to create nuclear weapons.

Washington has slapped sanctions on the Iranian economy, while Tehran has responded by gradually abandoning its obligations under the deal, including not to use advanced centrifuges as well as adhering to limits on volume and enrichment levels.

However, newly sworn-in US President Joe Biden has said he is interested in talks with Iran, suggesting that a return to the JCPOA may be possible, although no official terms have been mentioned so far.