Iranian President Hassan Rouhani, during the 18th annual meeting of the Council of Heads of Member States of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, reaffirmed his country’s ongoing commitments to the 2015 multinational nuclear agreement, claiming Tehran’s total compliance with a deal that sought to remove crippling international sanctions on Iran’s economy in exchange for limiting the Islamic Republic’s nuclear program that aimed at thwarting its capability of developing nuclear weapons. “My country has fully performed its commitments under the nuclear deal. The International Atomic Energy Agency has, up to now, 11 times confirmed that Iran has carried out the deal. All the parties to the deal are obliged to remove the sanctions on Iran as contained in the deal, and other members of the United Nations are also obligated, in line with the United Nations Security Council resolution 2231 and article 25 of the United Nations Charter, to provide assistance for implementing the deal and stop any action which will impede the implementation. The Islamic Republic of Iran has pronounced to the remaining parties to the deal that it will take supporting measures for fully implementing the various provisions of the deal,” Iranian President Hassan Rouhani said.
The other members that formulated the nuclear agreement with Iran, including China, Russia, France, Britain and Germany, continue to voice their frustration at President Donald Trump’s decision to immediately withdraw the United States from commitments made by his predecessor, Barack Obama; in which President Trump decreed Washington’s vote in favor of U.N. Security Council resolution 2231 that endorsed the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action – the technical term of the nuclear agreement with Iran – as null and void. “Of course, our country cannot be but worried about the Ira nuclear program. U.S. withdraw from the comprehensive plan of action can further destabilize the situation. Russia is in favor of consistent and unconditional implementation of JCPOA,” Vladimir Putin, Russian President said.
It is important to note that while the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action was not signed by any of the powers that formulated the deal, its endorsement by U.N. Security Council resolution 2231 has demanded from all parties involved to abide by its terms and conditions – claiming the multinational deal “would contribute to building confidence in the exclusive peaceful nature of Iran’s nuclear program. That said, the resolution 2231, has called upon Iran in Paragraph 3 of Annex B “not to undertake any activity related to ballistic missiles designed to be capable of delivering nuclear weapons, including launches using such ballistic missiles technology,” a call Iran had rejected time-and-again, stressing Iran will not negotiate over its ballistic missiles program until the U.S. and E.U. dismantle their nuclear weapons. Until that happens, Iran’s Armed Forces spokesman Masoud Jazayeri emphasized ‘Iran will continue its ballistic Missiles capabilities.