Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif defended last week’s historic nuclear accord with world powers before some of his most vocal critics in the country’s parliament.
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Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif said on Tuesday that Iran has a prominent role in fight against terrorism and extremism in the region, IRNA reported.
Under Iran’s constitution, parliament has the right to reject any deal – even one negotiated by the Foreign Ministry.
Iran’s Supreme National Security Council, which moderate President Hassan Rouhani heads, also is reviewing the deal.
In a sign of their scepticism, just days before the final negotiations started in Vienna, members of parliament passed a new law which they said was to defend the nuclear programme, but which the government opposed.
“I don’t know how to interpret it at this point in time, except to take it at face value, that that’s his policy”, he said in the interview with Saudi-owned Al Arabiya television, parts of which the network quoted on Tuesday.
“If for any reason, Security Council sanctions are re-imposed, Iran will not be obliged to abide by its commitments” under the nuclear deal, he said, adding that it is not in the interest of both sides to go back to the pre-deal situation.
Under the agreement, Iran pledged to curb its nuclear program for a decade in exchange for potentially hundreds of billions of dollars’ worth of relief from global sanctions.
“We have never claimed and do not claim that the [nuke deal] is completely to the benefit of Iran; I emphasize that negotiating is basically giving [something] and taking [something in return], and unless a significant level of the two sides’ demands are met, no agreement is reached”, Zarif says according to English-language Iranian outlet, PressTV. Many penalties on the Iranian economy, such as those related to the energy and financial sectors, could be lifted by the end of the year.
The United States and its Western allies believe Tehran’s real goal is to build atomic weapons but Iran insists its nuclear program is purely peaceful, aimed at producing nuclear energy and medical isotopes.
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Khamenei has so far withheld a clear verdict on the deal, but said on Saturday he would not let the deal be “abused” or endanger “Iran’s security and defense capabilities”. He did not elaborate.
