Iran Warns US Not to Delay Complying with JCPOA

  In remarks after inaugurating a number of national industrial projects via videoconference on Thursday, President Rouhani said it is now up to the Group 5+1 and the US to honor their commitments under the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action. “They should know that every single day, and even every hour, of delay in carrying out the JCPOA commitments would be to the detriment of themselves,” the president warned. In response to the discussion about who should first resume honoring the JCPOA commitments, Rouhani said it is Iran which has saved the JCPOA over the past three years after the US’ withdrawal from the accord. Rouhani  then reiterated that Tehran will continue to meet all of its JCPAO commitments as soon as the US returns to its commitments. The JCPOA was signed in 2015 between Iran and six world states —the US, Germany, France, Britain, Russia and China— and was ratified in the form of Resolution 2231. However, former US president Donald Trump unilaterally pulled his country out of the JCPOA in May 2018 and reinstated the sanctions that had been lifted by the deal. In May 2019, Iran began to scale back its JCPOA commitments after the remaining European parties failed to fulfill their end of the bargain and compensate for Washington’s absence. In remarks in February, Leader of the Islamic Revolution Imam Sayyed Ali Khamenei said Iran will resume honoring the JCPOA in full only after the US has removed all sanctions on Tehran in a practical and verifiable manner.