MP talks of US’ new conditions for reviving JCPOA

“America has set a new condition. If we accept that there will be an agreement and if we don’t, no agreement will be reached; [The condition relates to] new commitments in the region. In other words, Americans are seeking a ‘JCPOA+’ for themselves and a ‘minimum JCPOA’ for us,” Mojtaba Zonnour a member of the Iranian Parliament’s National Security and Foreign Policy Committee told Mehr News Agency on Saturday.

“The Western and American sides have announced that the Islamic Republic should in the final statement of 5+1 commit to cooperate with the West over regional security,” he said, adding that the most important issue for West regarding the region is “ensuring the security of ISIL and Takfiri terrorists, the Israeli regime, and heads of reactionary regimes.”

This security is unilateral which means only the Islamic Republic should not possess the capability of threatening those countries and this is just for humiliating Iran while reactionary countries can continue to have arms contracts worth billions of dollars, added the lawmaker.

“According to the proposal, the Islamic Republic can neither have knowledge on missiles nor do trade on arms and missiles. In other words, the West is targeting our defense power.”

“For instance, they say the range of Iran’s missile should not surpass 200-300 kilometers. How can they know that? They want to install cameras in our military facilities, as the IAEA did in nuclear facilities … So there will remain no military secrets for us. America and the West are not abandoning their excessive demands.”

He urged the next Iranian administration to continue the talks to secure the rights of the Iranian nation. “The other side has no choice but to reach an agreement. We are optimistic that they will accept Iranian nation’s rights and an agreement will be finalized in favor of Iran.”

Elsewhere, Zonnour said that the perspective for the Vienna talks is ‘positive’. “Due to the determination of Raeisi’s government, the 5+1 will certainly yield to the agreement and for sure, conditions will improve. Considering the data that we have about the negotiations, we have a positive perspective ahead and the atmosphere of our relations with the world will improve compared to the past.”

Iran held six rounds of talks with JCPOA participants known as the P4+1 with the aim of salvaging the JCPOA in the Austrian capital of Vienna. Tehran has repeatedly insisted that it would resume full compliance with the deal after the full removal of the sanctions that the previous US administration under Trump illegally imposed after its unilateral and illegitimate withdrawal from the JCPOA in May 2018.

The current US administration has not yet fulfilled the promises Joe Biden made during his presidential elections campaigns to undo Trump’s actions and return to the deal. In the meantime, Tehran has also stressed that the Biden administration’s return to the agreement without lifting the sanctions is not important at all.

The Vienna talks will continue after new Iranian president Ebrahim Raeisi takes office.