Unic Press UK: The United Nations (UN) expressed Friday unalloyed support for and full commitment to the Iran Nuclear Deal [Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA)] in the light of United States government intent to completely withdraw from the deal.
“The Secretary-General has repeatedly said that the adoption of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) was a very important breakthrough to consolidate nuclear non-proliferation and advance global peace and security. He strongly hopes that it will remain in place”, the spokesman for the Secretary-General, Stephane Dujarric, said.
The position of the UN on the Iran Nuclear Deal (JCPOA) as agreed by the P5+1 (China, France, Germany, Russia, the United Kingdom, and the United States), the European Union (EU), and Iran, in July 2015, is same as what the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Director General, Yukiya Amano, voiced.
“Since January 2016, the IAEA has been verifying and monitoring Iran’s implementation of its nuclear-related commitments under the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA)… the nuclear-related commitments undertaken by Iran under the JCPOA are being implemented. The IAEA’s verification and monitoring activities address all the nuclear-related elements under the JCPOA… So far, the IAEA has had access to all locations it needed to visit.” (Yukiya Amano: 13th October 2017)
The United States Defense Secretary, James Mattis, said: “Yes, Senator, I do”, when asked on 3rd October 2017 by Independent U.S. Senator Angus King of Maine whether he believes that it’s in U.S. national security interest at the present time to remain in the JCPOA – an agreement inked to ensure that Iran’s nuclear program remains exclusively peaceful.
Despite all the support for the subsisting Iran Nuclear Deal, President Trump seems unfettered in his intent to drag the U.S. out of the deal given his refusal to recertify the deal. President Trump, who refused to certify the Iran Nuclear Deal (JCPOA) on Friday, the 13th October 2017, unveiled a new strategy on Iran. The strategy, inter alia, reads:
“The United States’ new Iran strategy focuses on neutralizing the Government of Iran’s destabilizing influence and constraining its aggression, particularly its support for terrorism and militants.”
On 19th September 2017, during the 72nd annual United Nations General Assembly, Trump lampooned Iran, labeling the Islamic country a ‘rogue nation’.
“It is time for the entire world to join us in demanding that Iran’s government end its pursuit of death and destruction. The Iranian government masks a corrupt dictatorship behind the false guise of a democracy. It has turned a wealthy country with a rich history and culture into an economically depleted rogue state whose exports are violence, bloodshed and chaos.” (Donald Trump: 19th September 2017)
Trump’s position on the Iran Nuclear Deal (JCPOA) precedes his election as the 45th United States President. He literally pledged to the American people that, if elected, the deal would reach a denouement. On 28 July 2015, Trump tweeted:
Obama’s nuclear deal with the Iranians will lead to a nuclear arms race in the Middle East. It has to be stopped.
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) July 28, 2015
New Strategy on Iran – President Rouhani reacts
The Iranian President Hassan Rouhani denounced Friday the new strategy on Iran as set by United States President Donald Trump, saying that Trump’s remarks were insolent, unfounded accusations and delirious talk.
“He [Trump] apparently does not know that this is not a bilateral document between Iran and the US for him to act in any way he wishes. Our missiles are for our defense and we have always endeavoured for the production of our weapons and we will redouble our efforts from now on and will continue enhancing our defensive [prowess],” the Press TV quoted Rouhani.
Russian Federation condemns the United States
The Russian Foreign Ministry decried the United States refusal to recertify the JCPOA (the 2015 nuclear agreement with Iran), saying that: America’s new strategy on Iran, jeopardizes nuclear non-proliferation effort, poses a threat to international security and exposes the U.S. as an unreliable partner.
“Such policy aimed at the erosion of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) and its credibility in fact deals a heavy blow to the global non-proliferation efforts,” Mikhail Ulyanov, the head of the Russian Foreign Ministry’s Department on Non-proliferation and Arms Control, told Interfax
About the JCPOA
The Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), popularly known as the ‘Iran nuclear deal’, is a subsisting Agreement that was inked on 14 July 2015 by the P5+1 (China, France, Germany, Russia, the United Kingdom, and the United States), the European Union (EU), and Iran. The Agreement came into effect on 18th October 2015.
The Agreement seeks to ensure that Iran’s nuclear programme be exclusively peaceful, and its implementation is expected to contribute to and promote regional and international peace and security. It is an Agreement by which the Islamic Republic of Iran assured/reaffirmed that under no circumstances will the State seek, develop, store or acquire any nuclear weapons.
