Iran expects JCPOA dividends for high costs incurred: Larijani

Parliament Speaker Ali Larijani says Iran expects to benefit from the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) for which it has paid high costs or it would rethink dealing with the 2015 nuclear accord.

"On the subject of the JCPOA, we have sustained high costs. If we are not to benefit from the JCPOA through the inappropriate behavior of Trump, and merely pay the costs, we will certainly rethink this issue," Larijani said, Press TV reported.

He made the remarks in a meeting with Executive Secretary of the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty Organization (CTBTO) Lassina Zerbo in Saint Petersburg which hosted the 137th assembly of the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU). 

Larijani touched on Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei's fatwa against the acquisition, development and use of nuclear weapons, saying it also includes other weapons of mass destruction.

"The fatwa of our Eminent Leader is not merely prohibiting nuclear weapons, but it also forbids the use of all weapons of mass destruction, including biological and chemical weapons."

The JCPOA is a testimony to Iran's peaceful nuclear activities and was reached after repeated inspections by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) did not find any non-civilian intentions in the program. 

Larijani said, "We are a member of the International Atomic Energy Agency, which has so far confirmed our adherence eight times, but Tramp claims that Iran is not in compliance, and that Congress must decide about it.

"If Trump is to make a judgement on this, then what is the responsibility of the International Atomic Energy Organization?" the speaker asked.

Zerbo said Ayatollah Khamenei's fatwa on the prohibition of atomic weapons is "very important," adding no country should try to scuttle the JCPOA. 

SS