Rouhani: The JCPOA is a seven-party agreement and no country should be allowed to undermine it

The President of Iran, in a meeting with the special envoy of the Russian President for Syria, described the Vienna nuclear agreement as the product of the work of seven countries and stated that "no country should be allowed to take actions to undermine the agreement according to its own desires." According to the state news agency IRNA, Hassan Rouhani said on Saturday, December 4, that "Iran has always adhered to its international commitments and will continue to do so, and for the sustainability of the JCPOA, other members of the 5+1 group must also fully comply with their commitments." The report also mentioned that Alexander Lavrentiev, the special envoy of the Russian President for the Middle East, emphasized that Russia's position regarding the Vienna nuclear agreement is "fixed and strong, and there is no reason to undermine it." On Friday, Hamid Abutalebi, the political deputy of the Iranian President's office, wrote on his Twitter account that a violation of the JCPOA by one of the members cannot be responded to unilaterally, and any violation will be an action against all signatories. The proposal to extend the Iran sanctions law, after being approved by only one vote against in the U.S. House of Representatives, passed unanimously in the Senate, thus extending Iran's sanctions again until 2026 after the President's approval. In this context, spokespeople for the White House and the U.S. State Department stated separately on Friday that they expect this bill to be approved by Barack Obama, clarifying that this bill gives the Secretary of State the authority to remove nuclear sanctions from this set as long as Iran adheres to its commitments under the nuclear agreement (JCPOA). In Iran, Bahram Qasemi, the spokesperson for the Iranian Foreign Ministry, described the ten-year extension of Iran's sanctions by the U.S. Congress as "contrary to the nuclear agreement," but on Saturday, Mohammad Javad Zarif, the Iranian Foreign Minister, stated that this "extension of sanctions will undermine America's credibility on the international stage." Mr. Zarif did not refer to the violation of the Vienna nuclear agreement in these remarks. One day prior to these statements, Ali Akbar Salehi, the head of Iran's Atomic Energy Organization, stated that if the U.S. President implements the ten-year extension of Iran's sanctions, it would be a "clear violation" of the Vienna nuclear agreement, and Iran has already made necessary predictions regarding this matter. According to Mr. Salehi, the JCPOA monitoring board had previously discussed the ten-year extension of Iran's sanctions, and this board is monitoring this "issue and will make necessary decisions accordingly." Meanwhile, Ali Akbar Velayati, a member of the JCPOA monitoring board, said on Saturday that this board decided in its meeting ten days ago that the Islamic Republic would "stand firm against any violation of the JCPOA." According to the Tasnim news agency, he emphasized that the Islamic Republic "has the necessary preparations for reciprocal action, and Iran's hand is not tied in nuclear issues." An advisor to the Supreme Leader of the Islamic Republic on international affairs stated that if the U.S. President extends the law on Iran's sanctions, it would be a "clear violation of the JCPOA." Mr. Velayati added: "It cannot be that such a contract is signed on one side and sanctions are resumed on the other side under various pretexts, including human rights, support for terrorism, etc." Mr. Velayati also described the reason for the U.S. Senate's bill as the "victory of the Islamic Republic's allies" in the region and events such as the rise of Michel Aoun in Lebanon, the "disappearance" of the government of Mansour Abdrabbuh Hadi in Yemen, and the "recognition of Hashd al-Shaabi" in the Iraqi parliament. The threats from Iranian officials regarding reciprocal actions come amid Mohammad Javad Zarif's announcement that the extension of the sanctions law "has no executive effect" and "does not affect entrepreneurs." In this context, Ali Tayebnia, the Minister of Economy, also said on Saturday that "sanctions are not reversible, and the wall of sanctions has collapsed." He added: "The limitations of the sanctions are being removed, and we see their effects clearly, and large companies are entering Iran." The U.S. Senate's bill has also elicited reactions from several Iranian parliament members. On Friday, Akbar Ranjbarzadeh, a member of the parliament's presiding board, announced the drafting of a three-urgency bill to counter the U.S. Senate's bill, stating that this bill will likely be presented to the parliament's presiding board on Sunday, December 5, and if its urgency is approved, the single article and its notes will be reviewed on the same day. According to Mr. Ranjbarzadeh, if this bill is finally approved, the Iranian government will be obliged to file a complaint against the U.S. "in international competent authorities due to the repeated violations of the JCPOA." According to the internal regulations of the Iranian parliament, in three-urgency bills, "after the urgency is approved, the generalities are immediately discussed, and then in the same session, the single article or any of the articles is debated and voted on." At the same time, Mohammad Reza Tabesh, a senior figure in the reformist faction of the parliament, stated that 145 representatives have prepared a "two-urgency bill to counter the extension of sanctions," which prohibits the purchase of American consumer goods in Iran.