Tehran not considering any place for Riyadh in JCPOA: MP

TEHRAN, (MNA) – Stating that the JCPOA participants are known, the Spokesperson for the Parliament National Security and Foreign Policy Commission said that Tehran does not consider any place for Riyadh in JCPOA talks.

Referring to the new claims of the French President regarding the JCPOA, Abolfazl Amouei said, "Unfortunately, the negative performance of the French in the previous negotiations has not been forgotten by the Iranians. Now, these behaviors are repeated."

"The claim of the French official that Iran should return to the JCPOA first is not based on facts," he added.

Emphasizing that Saudi Arabia has no place in this agreement, Amouei, said, "There is a lot of ambiguity about the Saudi nuclear program and at the same time, Iran has announced its readiness to discuss issues between Riyadh. One of the main issues to be discussed with the Saudis is the purchase of weapons and their actions against the Yemeni people."

"There are also ambiguities and questions about Saudi Arabia's behavior on regional issues that need to be addressed in a timely manner," he noted.

He highlighted, "The JCPOA participants are known and this is stated in Resolution 2231. The US was a party to the nuclear deal, but is withdrew from it, even though it was involved in writing the nuclear deal."

"According to international law, in some deals such as JCPOA which the number of members is known, the new membership is possible only by consensus of the parties," he added, saying, "In this regard, Saudi Arabia has no place in the JCPOA and the Islamic Republic of Iran does not consider any place for Riyadh in this agreement."

 French President Emmanuel Macron on Friday said that Saudi Arabia should be involved in any new negotiations with Iran about the 2015 nuclear deal.

The 2015 deal, more formally known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), was signed by the five permanent members of the UN Security Council — the US, the UK, China, Russia and France — plus Germany and the EU. In 2018, former US President Donald Trump withdraw the US from the deal and reimposed sweeping economic sanctions against the Islamic Republic of Iran.

Tehran, in response, reduced commitments to the deal to create a balance, calling on other parties to safeguard its economic interests under the deal.