US will honor Iran nuclear deal: Trump’s advisor

March 22nd, 2017

Awake Goy

Press TV – US President Donald Trump’s nuclear advisor says Washington will honor the 2015 nuclear agreement between Iran and six major world powers, including the United States.

Christopher Ford, the White House National Security Council’s senior director for weapons of mass destruction and counter-proliferation, made the remarks during a conference in Washington, DC on Tuesday.

Ford told the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace that the Trump administration will stick to the Iran nuclear pact unless otherwise is decided.

“Until otherwise decided, the United States will adhere to the Iran nuclear deal and ensure that Iran also does,” he said.

However, the Trump aide also said that the White House is reviewing the Iran deal along with all other nuclear pacts that Washington has negotiated under previous administrations.

Iran and the five permanent members of the United Nations Security Council — the United States, France, Britain, Russia and China — plus Germany started implementing the JCPOA on January 16, 2016.

The deal limited parts of Iran’s peaceful nuclear program in exchange for the complete removal of all sanctions against the country.

Since then, Washington has on a number of occasions violated the agreement by imposing anti-Iran sanctions despite the United Nations’ confirmation that Tehran has abided by the terms of the accord.

In February, the Trump administration implemented a new round of sanctions against Iran following the country’s successful test-launch of a ballistic missile, which Washington said was a breach of the JCPOA. Iran rejected the US claim, reiterating the right to develop its defense capabilities.

Trump has been a staunch opponent of the international agreement negotiated by the US under former President Barack Obama.

During his presidential campaign, Trump had promised to repeal the nuclear accord which he referred to as a “disaster” and “the worst deal ever negotiated.” He also said that the agreement could lead to a “nuclear holocaust.”

Meanwhile, Iran’s Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif has warned that Tehran is ready to restore its nuclear activities to the level it was before the 2015 deal should Washington fail to keep its end of the nuclear bargain.

Iran “is fully prepared to return to the pre-JCPOA situation or even [to conditions] more robust than that if the US reneges on its promises to the extent that the JCPOA’s continuation harms our national interests,” Zarif stated on Monday.

According to American political analyst Professor Dennis Etler, Trump is in no position to threaten Iran.

“The reason for Trump’s retreat from his bombastic rhetoric regarding both Iran and China is the sobering realization by his team that the US is in no position to follow through on his threats. There is also no prospect that the US will be able to do so during his first term in office,” Professor Etler told Press TV recently.

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