Zarif Warns of 'Unpleasant Consequences' of US Withdrawal from JCPOA

Mohammad Javad Zarif, Iran's Foreign Minister, stated on Thursday, April 30, that if the United States withdraws from the nuclear agreement with six world powers, known as the JCPOA, it will have 'very unpleasant' consequences for Washington. According to IRNA, Zarif, who traveled to New York to attend the 'United Nations International Conference on Sustainable Peace', responded to a question regarding the potential US exit from the JCPOA by saying: 'The Islamic Republic of Iran will certainly act based on its own interests and has a wide range of options for action both within and outside the JCPOA.' The Iranian Foreign Minister added: 'The actions that the Islamic Republic will take and the reaction that the international community will have to the US move will certainly be very unpleasant for the Americans.' Iran and six world powers, including the US, Russia, China, France, the UK, and Germany, reached an agreement in July 2015 to resolve Iran's nuclear program and lift international sanctions against it. Under this agreement, Iran accepted to halt many of its nuclear activities in exchange for the lifting of nuclear sanctions. Meanwhile, less than a month remains until the deadline set by the US President to 'fix the flaws' in the JCPOA. Donald Trump has given Germany, France, and the UK until May 12 to amend the agreement; otherwise, he will not extend the suspension of sanctions against Iran under the JCPOA. In this context, the US disarmament representative expressed optimism on Thursday about the effectiveness of European countries' efforts to address Trump's concerns regarding the JCPOA. Robert Wood, the US disarmament representative, stated that negotiations with European countries are very 'intense' as the deadline set by the US President approaches. Trump has set four conditions for the US to continue its participation in the JCPOA: 'immediate access' for international inspectors to all Iranian sites and facilities, making the restrictions on Iran's nuclear program permanent, guarantees against approaching nuclear weapons, and limitations on Iran's long-range missile program; as Trump stated, the long-range missile program and Iran's nuclear weapons program are 'inseparable'. Meanwhile, Iranian officials have rejected any revision of the nuclear agreement.