US & Iran Clash on Nuclear Deal Compliance

 

 

 

“So let me say broadly that so long as Iran is carrying out its end of the bargain, we think it’s important for the world community to carry out our end of the bargain.”

 

“Iran, so far, has followed the letter of the agreement.  But the spirit of the agreement involves Iran also sending signals to the world community and businesses that it is not going to be engaging in a range of provocative actions that might scare business off.  When they launched ballistic missiles with slogans calling for the destruction of Israel that makes businesses nervous.  There is some geopolitical risk that is heightened when they see that taking place.

 

“If Iran continues to ship missiles to Hezbollah, that gets businesses nervous.  And so part of what I hope happens is we have a responsibility to provide clarity about the rules that govern so that Iran can, in fact, benefit, the Iranian people can benefit from an improved economic situation.  But Iran has to understand what every country in the world understands, which is businesses want to go where they feel safe, where they don't see massive controversy, where they can be confident that transactions are going to operate normally.  And that's an adjustment that Iran is going to have to make as well.”

 

 

“Since Iran has kept its end of the [nuclear] deal, it is our responsibility to uphold ours, in both letter and spirit.”

 

 

 

"Any effort to step away from (the deal) would reopen a Pandora's box in that region that would be hard to close again.”

 

A U.S. rejection of the deal "would be grasped by hardliners in Iran to assert that we were an unreliable interlocutor” and would be seen as “a clear signal that they needed to return to their nuclear program."

 

 

“Thus far we have seen Iran meet its major commitments under the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action.”

 

“We were also clear that they were going to continue to be engaged in behavior that we found counterproductive – ballistic missiles, support for terrorism, destabilizing activities in the region. That’s not the nuclear deal. It’s a separate set of issues on which we have the ability to respond.”

 

 

"We are a good faith partner…It is not in our interest just to sanction for no reason, so we're not going to be in a position where we're looking to trick someone, that's never been our objective."

 

"Snap-back is a mechanism that we negotiated in order to deter Iranian non-compliance, not one to give us some secret way of re-imposing sanctions on Iran because we felt like it."

 

 

 

 

“The Americans have not honored their promises and have not done what they should have. Of course, as our honorable Minister of Foreign Affairs said, they have done certain things on paper, but they have prevented the Islamic Republic from achieving its goals through many detours and short cuts.”

 

“Notice that today, in all western countries and in all those countries that are under their influence, our banking transactions have been blocked. We have a problem bringing our wealth - which has been kept in their banks – back to the country. We have a problem conducting different financial transactions which require the assistance of banks. And when we pursue the matter, follow it up and ask about it, it becomes clear that they are afraid of the Americans. The Americans have said that they would lift sanctions and they have actually done so on paper, but through other ways and methods, they are acting in a way that the result of sanctions repeal will not be witnessed at all.”

 

“What this political analysis of the enemy means is that if America wishes, the Islamic Republic should even forget about its own defense mechanisms. You see what uproar they have created in the world on the issue of our missiles. They say, “Why does the Islamic Republic have missiles? Why does it have long-range missiles? Why do the Islamic Republic’s missiles aim at and hit the target in a very precise manner?” They say, “Why have you carried out a military maneuver? Why do you have military exercises and why and why and why!”

 

“This is while the Americans themselves carry out maneuvers from time to time in the Persian Gulf – which is several thousand kilometers away from their country - and they do so along with some regional countries. They do this while they have no responsibility in the region. However, when the Islamic Republic carries out a military maneuver in its own home, in its own territory and in its own security zone, they create uproar about why we have carried out a military operation, why we have adopted such and such measures and why our Navy and our Air Force have adopted such and such courses of action.”

 

“It does not matter which political party takes the helm. The nuclear deal, known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), is Washington’s commitment, and it has nothing to do with who is in power at the White House.”

 

“With the serious follow-up of the Islamic Republic of Iran, the US government is obliged to execute its commitments not only in theory but in practice.”

 

 

"We studied the details of the nuclear agreement and didn’t see anything but its text and don’t have any information about its spirit.”

 

"Therefore, the US arrogant expectations and excessive demands are ungrounded and unacceptable and no one in the Islamic Republic of Iran cares about them.”

 

 

"The Americans are now acting in violation of the nuclear agreement.”

 

“To see JCPOA a panacea and a successful solution would be naïve and imprudence; those advertising now different versions of JCPOA, primarily at home, inadvertently deviated from the true path of Revolution and tilting toward anti-Revolutionary front.”

 

“JCPOA provides only the least part of nation’s rights and should not and won’t be lionized as a golden chapter and a cause for exhilaration.”

 

 

“I am certain that the Security Council and the United Nations will not respond, as our actions are neither a breach of the JCPOA nor are they against resolution 2231.”
 

“[The] Americans are basically against any increase in the national power of the Islamic Republic of Iran, in any dimension.”

 

 

"Legally speaking, there is a possibility that the other side misuses a point in the nuclear deal, but the document enjoys such an integrity and power that the other side doesn’t allow itself to create any problems.”

 

"I firmly announce that we act upon the Supreme Leader (Ayatollah Khamenei)'s views in a way that if the other side does not comply with its undertakings appropriately, we will show a proper reaction."