In an address to the country’s parliament — the Majlis — Speaker Ali Larijani called on the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran (AEOI) to prepare plans to build a nuclear plant with the express purpose of enriching uranium, the semi-official state news agency Fars reported. According to Larijani, “disruptive moves” by the UN and the US, coupled with what he claimed to be America’s disloyalty to the year-old Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), are sufficient cause for Tehran to take defiant measures.
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He referred to the remarks made by the American officials and presidential election hopefuls in the US against Iran, and said,
“The internal issues and power game in the US are not related to us. What is related to our interests will be implemented based on the agreements made in the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) and the technical points which have been considered before (its endorsement).”
Additionally, the commander of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), Major General Mohammad Ali Jafari, announced that Iran will hold various war games across the country, which will last through the end of the year. The war games are intended to flex Iran’s military muscles and test its advanced missile systems, the IRGC commander said.
“This year, we have so many exercises that I can’t remember their exact number. God willing, these drills will be staged to enhance readiness for burying the enemy in the Persian Gulf waters and annihilating them on the Iranian soil.”
Jafari’s comments echo similar remarks made by the commander of the IRGC Aerospace Force, Brigadier General Amir Ali Hajizadeh in May, who warned that Iran will hold more exercises should the US meddle in its affairs:
“We will not cancel any drills and will improve them and make them more frequent.”
Also, in June, Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Seyed Ali Khamenei warned the US presidential candidates to watch their mouth when speaking of the Vienna nuclear deal, stressing that Tehran will also ditch the agreement if future White House leaders show disrespect and discard it by saying,
“We do not violate the JCPOA (Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action also known as the nuclear deal), but if the opposite party violates it and tears it apart as the US presidential candidates state and threaten at present, then we will burn it.”
The Iranian leader’s warning is deemed as a general message to the political brass in Washington, but seems to be more addressed to the US presidential candidate, Donald Trump. The presidential nominee has repeatedly warned that he would tear apart and discard the nuclear deal with Iran on day one of office if he is ever elected, while his Democrat rival Hillary Clinton has said that she would remain loyal to the deal although she has vowed to be tough on Iran.
The Iranian leader further blasted the US for hypocrisy in return for Iran’s honesty, saying,
“As regards the JCPOA, the opposite party has defied its duty that has been removing the sanctions, the problem with the banks has not yet been resolved, the oil tankers insurance is done at a limited scope, the crude revenues and our money that are in other countries are not given back to us and the Americans have not fulfilled a major part of their undertakings, while we have done our part and shut down the 20-percent enrichment at Fordo (nuclear enrichment facility) and Arak (heavy water reactor). It is wrong to assume that we can come along with the US, this is wrong and we cannot rely on illusions as their issue is with the life and essence of the Islamic Republic and this cannot be resolved through negotiations. Some imagine that hostilities are the result of our belligerence towards the US; (then if that’s true) what has the Islamic Republic done to France? Why did France play the bad cop in the nuclear talks and why are the Netherlands and Canada showing enmity (towards Iran).”
The US has been lagging in implementation of the last July nuclear deal with Iran. Months after the implementation of the nuclear deal, Iran is complaining that the US has not shown its loyalty to the agreement in action.
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