Iran's response to potential breach of JCPOA explicit: Official

Iran Press TV

Sun Nov 8, 2015 8:45AM

Tehran will give an explicit response to a potential violation of the nuclear agreement between Iran and the P5+1 group of countries, says a senior Iranian official.

Secretary of Iran's Supreme National Security Council Ali Shamkhani said in a televised interview on Saturday that Iran's response to any violation of the nuclear agreement, known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), will be explicit.

He added that Iran will start implementation of the JCPOA after the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA)'s Board of Governors officially announces that the case of Iran's nuclear issue is closed.

Shamkhani also stated that by implementing the JCPOA the false image that the West has portrayed of Iran will change. However, Shamkhani emphasized that the hostile policies adopted by the US vis-à-vis Iran will never change.

Iran and the five permanent members of the UN Security Council – the United States, Britain, France, China and Russia – plus Germany finalized the text of the JCPOA in the Austrian capital, Vienna, on July 14.

Under the agreement, restrictions are put on Iran's nuclear program in return for, among other things, the removal of sanctions imposed on Tehran by the US and the EU.

On October 18, Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif and EU foreign policy chief, Federica Mogherini, said in a joint statement that the 28-nation bloc had "adopted the legislative framework for the lifting of all nuclear-related economic and financial sanctions against Iran.'

Iran's advisory presence in Syria

Elsewhere in his remarks, Shamkhani elaborated on Iran's role in the Syria crisis, noting that the Islamic Republic only plays an advisory role in the conflict-stricken Arab country.

"The presence of the Islamic Republic of Iran in Syria is for advisory purposes, not to engage in war," the SNSC secretary said.

He emphasized that Western countries are using Daesh Takfiri terrorists as a means to promote their own policies in the region, adding that the West provides Daesh with financial and military support.