Addressing a cabinet session on Wednesday, Rouhani made it clear that lifting the UN arms embargo against Iran is an indispensable part of the nuclear deal.
“If the arms embargo (on Iran) is to return one day, with any title, under any statement and with any mechanism, our response will be what I have mentioned in the last paragraph of the letter to the heads (of the JCPOA member states),” the president warned.
“The heads of state are well aware what our response will be in that case,” he added.
Rouhani said he has informed the leaders of G4+1 (Russia, China, France, Britain and Germany) about the Islamic Republic’s reaction to a possible extension of the arms embargo, adding, “They also know that if they ever make such a mistake, what dire consequences it will have for them and that it will be a big defeat for them.”
He said the US has realized what a grave mistake it has made by withdrawing from the nuclear agreement, stressing that the Israeli regime, Saudi Arabia, and the hardliners who forced US President Donald Trump to pull his country out of the JCPOA will have to admit to making a big mistake again as the arms embargo on Iran will be lifted.
“There is no JCPOA for the US anymore and it has ended, unless they once again make a request, we accept it, and they make up for their mistakes and remove the sanctions,” the Iranian president added.
He also reiterated that Iran will be prepared to fully return to the JCPOA as soon as the other parties honor their commitments to the nuclear accord in full.
The US has announced recently that it is preparing a legal argument to remain a participant in the JCPOA –already renounced by Trump- as part of an intricate strategy to pressure the UN Security Council to extend an arms embargo on Tehran.
According to US State Secretary Mike Pompeo’s plan, bound to be opposed by many of Washington’s European allies, the US would, in essence, claim it legally remains a “participant state” in the nuclear accord only for the purposes of invoking a “snapback” that would restore the UN sanctions on Iran that were in place before the nuclear deal.
