Iran’s Foreign Minister said Saturday that Tehran would return to its nuclear activities should world powers renege on their agreement to be finalized in June.
In an interview with Iranian news agency, Fars, Mohammad Javad Zarif explained that “all parties to the agreement can, in case of violation from the other side, take corresponding action.”
Thus, he asserted, if the West does not meet the terms of the agreement, Iran can return fully to building up its nuclear program.
The United States, similarly, asserted in a State Department fact sheet published Thursday that “if at any time Iran fails to fulfill its commitments…sanctions will snap back into place.”
Reiterating on Saturday his previous claim that the US was lying in the fact sheet about the status of sanctions, Zarif argued the “Americans [just] published what they wanted.”
Despite this, Zarif lauded the success of the negotiations, noting that they enabled the six powers – the United States, France, Britain, Germany, Russia, and China – to change their hardline stances.
“Before the Geneva Agreement (signed in November 2013) they wanted to shut down the Arak heavy water nuclear reactor with a bulldozer, and turn the Fordow site to dust. But these attitudes have changed,” he said.
“They realized they could not shut down the Iranian nuclear program. We are able to restore all the work we did on the nuclear program. Our local knowledge – no one can take that away from us.”
The Iranian foreign minister added, though that the Islamic Republic did not want “anything more than the rights we deserve. We never tried to get the bomb, in the past or now in the present.”
According to Zarif, “we were honest both inside and outside of the negotiating room.”
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