TEHRAN, Dec 20 (NNN-IRNA) – Iran is ready to return to its commitments under the 2015 nuclear deal, the senior advisor to Iran’s Supreme Leader, said yesterday.
“Today, we have the necessary nuclear capability, but we do not intend to produce a bomb … (as) we consider the production of (nuclear) bombs forbidden, on the basis of our (religious) beliefs,” Kamal Kharazi said, at the third Tehran Dialogue Forum.
“And from a strategic point of view, we do not consider it a path-breaker, because if Iran moves towards nuclear weapons, a nuclear race will begin in the region,” the former foreign minister added.
Possessing a nuclear weapon is not necessarily a component of security, but “having nuclear technology is a deterrent and shows our ability,” he noted.
Kharazi emphasised that, Iran is ready to return to its obligations under the 2015 nuclear deal, also known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), when many relevant problems have been solved, so far.
The only remaining issue is about safeguards, which will be hopefully resolved during the upcoming visit of the experts of the International Atomic Energy Agency to Tehran, he said.
Iran signed the JCPOA with world powers in July, 2015, agreeing to put curbs on its nuclear programme, in return for the removal of sanctions on the country. The United States, however, pulled out of the deal in May, 2018, and reimposed its unilateral sanctions on Iran, prompting the latter to drop some of its nuclear commitments under the deal.– NNN-IRNA
