IRGC's Proposal to Rouhani Government: Threatening the West with Withdrawal from JCPOA and NPT

The deputy commander of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) announced that the organization has suggested to the government to inform Western officials that Iran will withdraw from the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) and the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT), and will resume its nuclear activities "indefinitely." According to the IRNA news agency, Hossein Salami stated on Thursday, April 25, in a meeting with the heads of the judiciary and prosecutors across the country that the United States "is unlikely to withdraw from the JCPOA but will maintain sanctions." He accused U.S. officials of trying to "turn the Iranian people against the IRGC while keeping the JCPOA and expanding sanctions," ultimately transferring the people's dissatisfaction to the judiciary and leadership. Salami also urged government officials to "speak more powerfully" and dispel the notion that the Islamic Republic would not withdraw from the JCPOA in response to "any position" from the U.S. He added, "We have even suggested to our officials to say that we are withdrawing from the JCPOA and NPT and will resume nuclear activities indefinitely; in this case, the Europeans and Americans will go crazy... and Western countries will have to submit to our power." These remarks come two days after Ali Shamkhani, Secretary of the Supreme National Security Council, threatened that if the other side withdraws from the JCPOA, the Islamic Republic of Iran has "surprising actions on its agenda." The next day, Mohammad Javad Zarif, Iran's Foreign Minister, stated in an interview with the Associated Press that Iran might withdraw from the NPT if the U.S. exits the JCPOA. The last time Donald Trump ordered the suspension of sanctions related to the nuclear agreement, he emphasized that negotiating parties with Iran have until May 11 to rectify the "deficiencies of the JCPOA"; otherwise, he would not extend the suspension of Iran's sanctions. Trump's four conditions for remaining in the nuclear agreement include "immediate access" for international inspectors to all Iranian sites and facilities, making nuclear restrictions permanent, guaranteeing no approach to nuclear weapons, and limiting Iran's ballistic missile program. Alongside the U.S. President, Israel and Saudi Arabia are also opposed to the nuclear agreement with Iran. Emmanuel Macron, the President of France, predicted that Donald Trump "will free himself from this agreement for internal reasons." However, Christopher Ford, a U.S. State Department advisor on international security, and Brian Hook, the State Department's director of policy planning, stated that Washington is not seeking to renegotiate or change the JCPOA but aims to reach complementary agreements with Tehran to "address the shortcomings." Meanwhile, several unnamed European diplomats told Reuters that the UK, France, and Germany are close to maintaining the nuclear agreement with Iran, and discussions of a "new agreement with Iran are not on the table," but rather "an agreement that can satisfy Donald Trump." Iran has previously rejected renegotiating the nuclear agreement and discussing its missile program.