JCPOA belied allegations against Iran: President Rouhani

Iran's President Hassan Rouhani says the historic deal over Iran's nuclear program and its implementation has belied the claims against the country seeking weapons of mass destruction and demonstrated the honesty and sincerity of the Islamic Republic.

Rouhani made the remarks in a press conference attended by some 200 Iranian and foreign reporters in Tehran on Tuesday on the first anniversary of the implementation of the country's nuclear agreement with the P5+1 group of countries, known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA).

Iran and the five permanent members of the United Nations Security Council - the United States, France, Britain, Russia and China plus Germany - signed the JCPOA on July 14, 2015 and started implementing it on January 16, 2016.

Under the JCPOA, Iran undertook to put limitations on its nuclear program in exchange for the removal of nuclear-related sanctions imposed against Tehran.

Since the implementation of the JCPOA, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) has confirmed Iran’s compliance with its obligations under the nuclear agreement in several reports.

Describing the JCPOA as "a great national achievement," Rouhani said, "The closure of this dossier amounted to a moral victory for the great Iranian nation."

The Iranian president stressed that all nuclear-related sanctions against the Islamic Republic have been removed after implementation of the JCPOA started, adding that there are no more bans in the gas, oil and transport sectors. 

He added that, however, the US, given its hostility toward the Islamic Republic, has been creating obstacles in the banking transactions between Tehran and the rest of the world. 

President Rouhani said Iran "is standing with great might and powerfully against" the violations of the JCPOA, adding, however, that "we have not acted and will not act hastily, because national interests are a principle for us and we will always bear in mind these interests." 

Elaborating on the existing tensions in relations between Iran and Saudi Arabia, Rouhani said the foreign policy of the Islamic Republic has been founded on forging close ties with neighboring countries, including the littoral Arab states of the Persian Gulf, which are no exception to this principle.

It was Riyadh, which initiated the problems by launching a deadly aggression "which had, and still has, no logical grounds" against its impoverished southern neighbor, Yemen, Rouhani said, adding that it is in the interests of Saudi Arabia and the region as a whole if Riyadh stopped it war on Yemen.  

"Saudi Arabia itself decided to unilaterally cut ties with Iran and this was not our decision," Rouhani said. The Iranian president added that some countries, including Iraq and Kuwait, had sought to mediate for the improvement of relations between Iran and Saudi Arabia, adding that if Saudi officials "take up the right path and make correct decisions," Tehran is ready to even help Riyadh with regard to regional affairs, including in Yemen, and to promote peace and unity in the region.  

EA