Iran would abandon n-deal if new sanctions imposed: Army chief

Iran will abandon the nuclear agreement if any international sanctions are reintroduced, an Iranian military official said on Monday.

Maj. Gen. Mohammad Baqeri, chief of staff of the Iranian armed forces, made his remarks when he touched upon the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action in a speech at National Conference on Passive Defence.

"It is the decision of Iran to accept restrictions in return to remove sanctions, but if these sanctions return with other excuses, it will change decision to get out of the meaningless deal," he said, according to the Iranian news agency Mehr.

Baqeri stressed that the JCPOA was a compromise between Iran and several countries and had been approved by the United Nations Security Council, so Tehran's withdrawal from the pact would be final in case of a reversal of sanctions.

The nuclear agreement reached between Iran and the six major world powers in 2015 limits and oversees the Iranian nuclear programme to prevent Tehran from developing nuclear weapons in return for lifting international sanctions.

The United States President Donald Trump decided two weeks ago not to certify Iran's compliance with the nuclear pact and threatened to abandon it if its "shortcomings" were not corrected.

Trump wants to correct the inspection mechanisms stated under the agreement, remove deadlines from the restrictions and deal with Tehran's ballistic missile programme.

The Iranian authorities have repeatedly rejected a renegotiation of the agreement or limitations on its weapons programs, including missiles.

The US Congress is now considering whether to re-impose sanctions related to Iran's nuclear program, but what it has already approved in recent months are sanctions against entities and individuals linked to Tehran's weapons programmes.

--IANS

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