Iran FM warns US against 'painful mistake' of quitting nuclear deal
Tehran (KNA) - Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif has warned the United States against the "painful mistake" of pulling out of the 2015 Iran nuclear agreement, officially known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA).
"Considering what has been envisaged in the JCPOA in the field of research and development and the Islamic Republic of Iran's continued measures to develop its peaceful nuclear capability, if the US makes the mistake of exiting the JCPOA, it will definitely be a painful mistake for the Americans," Zarif told reporters on Friday upon his arrival in Tehran from the Kazakh capital of Astana.
Iran and the five permanent members of the United Nations Security Council - the US, France, Britain, Russia and China - plus Germany signed the nuclear agreement on July 14, 2015 and started implementing it on January 16, 2016.
Under the JCPOA, Iran undertook to put limits on its nuclear program in exchange for the removal of nuclear-related sanctions imposed against Tehran.
The Iranian foreign minister said US President Donald Trump has always sought "destroy the JCPOA," both before and after he took office in January 2017, adding that Washington has committed broad violations in the implementation of the nuclear accord.
Source: Press TV