Iraqchi: Preserving the JCPOA Without the U.S. is Possible

While the Supreme Leader of the Islamic Republic has expressed distrust towards the three European countries for continuing the JCPOA, Iran's Deputy Foreign Minister emphasized that "with the provision of definite guarantees," preserving the JCPOA without the U.S. will be possible. According to the IRNA news agency, Abbas Iraqchi, on Thursday, May 9, met with Sergey Ryabkov, the Deputy Foreign Minister of Russia, and mentioned that the "definite guarantees" that other parties to the JCPOA must provide include "ensuring Iran's interests and compensating for the effects of the U.S. withdrawal from this agreement." Iraqchi also stressed that discussions with all European parties as well as Russia and China will continue to explore the possibility of continuing the JCPOA. On the other hand, IRNA reported that Sergey Ryabkov described the U.S. withdrawal from the JCPOA as a "threat to international peace and security" and reiterated Russia's commitment to fully implementing the JCPOA. Donald Trump, the President of the United States, officially announced the U.S. withdrawal from the nuclear agreement with Iran last Tuesday and signed an executive order to reinstate suspended sanctions against Tehran. In response to Trump's action, Iranian President Hassan Rouhani stated that the Islamic Republic will consider continuing the JCPOA without the U.S. However, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, the Supreme Leader of the Islamic Republic, has stated that he does not trust the Europeans either and that "definite guarantees" must be obtained from them. Several Friday prayer leaders in Iran, including Ahmad Khatami and Ahmad Alamolhoda, the Friday prayer leaders of Tehran and Mashhad, repeated the Supreme Leader's statements about the "untrustworthiness of European countries" and called for Iran's withdrawal from the nuclear agreement. Mohammad Javad Zarif, Iran's Foreign Minister, is scheduled to meet on Tuesday, May 14, in Brussels with the EU's foreign policy chief and the foreign ministers of Britain, Germany, and France to discuss the future of the JCPOA. Donald Trump, who had previously called the agreement "the worst deal ever" before the official announcement of the U.S. withdrawal, expressed hope on Thursday that the U.S. would reach a new and "fair" agreement with Iran. Zangeneh: Nothing will happen to oil exports. Although several European officials, including Heiko Maas, the German Foreign Minister, have linked the future of economic cooperation between Europe and Iran and the purchase of oil from Iran to clarifying U.S. decisions, some experts predict that the return of U.S. sanctions will seriously limit Iran's oil exports. However, Bijan Zangeneh, Iran's Minister of Oil, emphasized on Thursday evening, May 9, that with the U.S. withdrawal from the JCPOA, "nothing will happen to oil, gas, and gas condensate exports, and foreign exchange revenues will not change." Zangeneh, speaking on Iranian state television, added that Iran's oil production capacity for the next year "remains at four million barrels." Iran is currently the third-largest oil producer among OPEC members. During the nuclear sanctions, Iran's oil exports fell below one million barrels per day, but with the lifting of these sanctions under the JCPOA, Iran was able to increase its production again. According to reports, Iran produced about three million eight hundred thousand barrels of oil per day last year and exported more than two million barrels per day.