Roundup: Iran's FM defends nuclear deal in parliament

Iran's Foreign Minister Mohammad-Javad Zarif defended the recent nuclear deal between Iran and the world powers as he handed over the text of the nuclear agreement to Iran's parliament for review on Tuesday.

He told the lawmakers that all Iran's objectives in its nuclear talks with the powers were met by the recent agreement, or the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA).

Under this agreement, all the nuke-related sanctions by the United Nations and Western countries against Iran will be stopped and removed, Zarif said.

The deal proved that Iran would never surrender to the sanction pressures over its nuclear program and would not violate the redlines of the country drawn by the Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, he said.

Iran is entitled to break away from its commitments, which was reached in Vienna last week and endorsed by the UN Security Council (UNSC) on Monday, if the Western and UN sanctions are re-imposed on Iran for any reason, Zarif said.

The "greatest achievement" of Iran's nuclear negotiators is that Iran does not need to give up its uranium enrichment activities inside the country and will also continue the research and development program with peaceful nuclear technology, he added.

Under the UNSC resolution, Iran will be able to get engaged in trading its nuclear products in the global market, Zarif said.

Zarif's remarks on commercializing Iran's nuclear products were echoed by head of the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran Ali Akbar Salehi, who also said on Tuesday that the nuclear agreement enables Iran to export its enriched uranium and heavy water.

"We are the only country among the developing countries that would be able to export two of our strategic products of enriched uranium and heavy water to the international markets," Salehi said in the parliament.

Zarif also said the UN resolution ensures the continuation of Iran's missile program.

Using the ballistic missiles is not a violation of JCPOA, since the resolution only bars the production and exercise with the missiles capable of carrying nuclear warheads which Iran has no plan for designing or producing, he said.

"If anybody is supposed to be accountable (for arms race in the region), they are the West and the United States whose weapons are used to commit crimes in Palestine, Yemen and Syria," he said.

The unanimous adoption of a resolution by the UNSC also represents Israel's isolation in the world, Zarif said.

On Sunday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu lashed out at Iran's nuclear agreement, saying that the Islamic republic deserves no concessions until it changes its foreign policy toward Israel and the United States.

The UNSC on Monday unanimously adopted the resolution as the first important step toward implementing the historic agreement reached in Vienna last week between Iran and the P5+1 group, Britain, China, France, Russia and the United States plus Germany.

In the resolution, the 15-member body called for its full implementation on the timetable established in the agreement.

The agreement is expected to put Iran on the path of sanctions relief, with more strict limits on its nuclear program. Endit