Accessibility links

Breaking News

Khamenei Adviser Warns Europeans Not To Try To Add Conditions To Nuclear Deal


Ali Akbar Velayati, adviser to Iran's supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei (file photo)
Ali Akbar Velayati, adviser to Iran's supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei (file photo)

A top adviser to Iran's supreme leader has warned European governments against trying to negotiate new conditions to keep the 2015 nuclear deal alive.

"To say that they accept the JCPOA [nuclear deal known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action] but should negotiate on Iran's regional presence or talk about Iran's missile defenses is to set conditions on the JCPOA, and this is not at all acceptable," said Ali Akbar Velayati, senior foreign-policy adviser to Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, in comments to Iranian media on October 17.

"This is not Europeans' right. The JCPOA has no conditions and it must be implemented according to what was signed," he said.

In a call with Iranian President Hassan Rohani last week, French President Emmanuel Macron, who has offered to mediate differences over the nuclear deal between Tehran and Washington, said talks on regional security and Iran's ballistic-missile program are needed to ensure the deal survives.

The call came shortly after U.S. President Donald Trump announced he is seeking changes in the deal, which placed curbs on Iran's nuclear activities in exchange for sanctions relief.

Despite taking up Trump's call for further talks with Iran, Macron has backed the nuclear accord and denounced Trump's threats to "terminate" it.

Without referring directly to Macron, Velayati said European leaders "should take more care in their remarks and demands."

"There will be no second edition of negotiations," he said. "The talks are over and now it is the time they comply with the terms of the agreement."

Velayati accused the United States of "playing a political game" by trying to pressure Tehran through a new set of sanctions against the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps and other measures.

Based on reporting by AFP, Mehr, and ParsToday.com

XS
SM
MD
LG