Salehi: We Will Show a 'Special Blow' to Those Disrupting the JCPOA

One month before the deadline set for the U.S. decision regarding the JCPOA, the head of Iran's Atomic Energy Organization threatened that the Islamic Republic would show a 'special blow' to those disrupting this agreement. According to the state news agency IRNA, Ali Akbar Salehi stated on Thursday, April 5, that the Islamic Republic is not seeking to disrupt the Vienna nuclear agreement, but if this happens, 'special conditions will arise.' He emphasized that if this agreement is canceled, 'when the senior officials of the system decide, we will have a special blow for the disruptors of this agreement.' Two months ago, Donald Trump, the President of the United States, set a deadline for addressing the deficiencies and flaws he identified in the JCPOA, threatening that without resolving these issues, he would not extend the lifting of sanctions on Iran and would withdraw from the nuclear agreement. The deadline ends on May 12, 2018. Meanwhile, Nikki Haley, the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, emphasized the need to hold Iran accountable for its actions in the region and stated that the U.S. is negotiating with its European allies to amend the nuclear agreement with Iran. Iranian officials have rejected any revision of the nuclear agreement. The Washington Post recently reported that Mr. Trump will abandon the JCPOA; this assessment has also been recently reiterated by the Israeli Prime Minister. Yossi Cohen, the head of Mossad, expressed '100% certainty' that the Islamic Republic of Iran's intention in pursuing nuclear programs is still to acquire a nuclear bomb. In this context, Reza Taghizadeh, a political analyst based in the UK, predicted in an interview with Radio Farda that the U.S. would exit the Vienna nuclear agreement. According to Mr. Taghizadeh, it was previously predicted that Iran was three or four months away from a nuclear bomb, and the goal of the nuclear agreement was to extend this time to one year. He emphasized that if the JCPOA collapses, the Islamic Republic might pursue programs that it was following before 2015 without the oversight of International Atomic Energy Agency inspectors. However, Hossein Aryan, an expert on Iranian military affairs, has a different opinion, stating that due to the limitations set in the Vienna nuclear agreement, the Islamic Republic is not capable of building a nuclear bomb in this short period. The head of Iran's Atomic Energy Organization also mentioned on Thursday that the outlook of negotiations between the U.S. and North Korea is 'in an ambiguous and complex space, which requires heightened vigilance and awareness in our actions and in the country’s fateful decisions.' Mr. Salehi did not provide further details about the potential impact of U.S.-North Korea negotiations on Iran. Meanwhile, the U.S. representative at the United Nations commented on the possible consequences of the U.S. withdrawal from the nuclear agreement with Iran for North Korea, stating that 'those who say that the U.S. withdrawal from the JCPOA or amending this agreement could send a message to North Korea that they cannot trust U.S. commitments in agreements are completely mistaken.' Nikki Haley added that 'emphasizing more inspections, removing the sunset clause, and ending Iran's ballistic missile program will send a message to North Korea that we are ready to negotiate and we will not accept a bad deal.' Recently, reports have emerged about the willingness of North Korean and U.S. leaders to engage in dialogue, and the White House has announced that this meeting will take place in May of this year, about a month from now.