Ali Shamkhani: Iran is Not Willing to Preserve the JCPOA at Any Cost

Ali Shamkhani, the Secretary of Iran's Supreme National Security Council, stated that the United States seeks to cancel the nuclear agreement at Tehran's expense, but the Islamic Republic will not grant such an opportunity to Washington. According to the Islamic Republic News Agency (IRNA), Shamkhani criticized Washington's policies towards Tehran on Wednesday, August 2, stating that the JCPOA has been 'ineffective in reducing American hostility towards Iran' because, as he put it, 'the essence of U.S. foreign policy is to exert influence and pressure to subjugate and humiliate opposing countries.' Recently, unofficial reports in American media have indicated that Donald Trump, the President of the United States, has asked White House staff to prepare a case to prove Iran's non-compliance with the JCPOA. During his election campaign, Trump repeatedly expressed his dissatisfaction with the nuclear agreement with Iran and even promised to tear it up if he became President. In his remarks on Wednesday, the Secretary of the Supreme National Security Council described the new U.S. administration's actions regarding the JCPOA as 'predictable' and stated that the JCPOA monitoring committee has determined 'a set of actions in various nuclear, political, economic, and defense areas that are being pursued in parallel and coordinated.' According to Ali Shamkhani, 'Iran is certainly not willing to preserve the JCPOA at any cost, and the value of the JCPOA depends on respect and implementation by all parties; however, politically, five countries have effectively positioned themselves against the U.S., and all of them explicitly or implicitly consider the U.S. to be the violator of the JCPOA, which is also a political achievement for Iran at minimal cost.' Previously, Federica Mogherini, the EU's foreign policy chief and one of the parties to the nuclear agreement with Iran, emphasized that 'the JCPOA does not belong to one country, and Washington must understand that this agreement is endorsed by the United Nations and the European Union.' Although the Trump administration has confirmed Iran's compliance with the terms of the nuclear agreement, it claims that Iran is not loyal to the spirit of this agreement. Recently, Washington has added 18 individuals and entities to its sanctions list for supporting the Islamic Republic of Iran's ballistic missile activities.