Salehi: JCPOA Crucial for Upholding Multilateralism

EghtesadOnline: Diplomatic achievements such as Iran's 2015 nuclear deal need to be preserved to protect multilateralism from the current chaos, the head of the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran said on Monday.

News ID: ۷۴۸۴۵۸

17 September 2019

"To bring order to the current chaotic situation facing multilateralism, our individual or collective efforts should be directed at not only accomplishing new achievements, but also preserving the old hard-fought ones as well," Ali Akbar Salehi said during the 63rd Regular Session of General Conference of the International Atomic Energy Agency in Vienna, Austria.

The nuclear deal, formally called the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, was signed between Iran and six world powers, but the United States unilaterally withdrew from it last year and reimposed sanctions on Tehran, pushing the accord to the brink of collapse.

Under the deal, Iran accepted time-bound limitations on its nuclear program and provided an unprecedented level of monitoring and access to IAEA in return for the lifting of nuclear-related sanctions, Financial Tribune reported.

"It is noteworthy that with only 3% of worldwide nuclear facilities, Iran has provided almost 20% of all agency accesses," Salehi said, according to a transcript of his speech published by Fars News Agency.

Common Responsibility

Highlighting the broad global agreement that JCPOA is "a real turning point in the history of multilateralism", Salehi stressed that its preservation is a common responsibility of all members of the international community.

"If the international community fails to save JCPOA, multilateralism will lose its effectiveness, and any further peaceful resolution of conflicts will be challenged, which will consequently serve the malign interest of warmongers," he said.

The remaining parties have so far failed to protect Iran's interests under the accord, making it unreasonable for the country to remain committed.

Tehran began to scale back its commitments in a phased manner, while declaring that the moves can be immediately reversed once the country's economic woes are addressed.

Iran has also declared that all measures, despite exceeding JCPOA limits, are within the framework of IAEA regulations.

Cornel Feruta, IAEA acting director general, visited Tehran last week and discussed with Iranian officials the activities under JCPOA and the implementation of safeguards in Iran.

"The agency continues to verify the non-diversion of nuclear material declared by Iran under its Safeguards Agreement. Evaluations regarding the absence of undeclared nuclear material and activities in Iran continue," he said during the Vienna conference, IAEA's website reported.