Roundup: Iran refuses renegotiation of nuclear deal despite U.S. pressures

TEHRAN, Jan. 13 (Xinhua) -- Iran will never renegotiate the 2015 nuclear deal despite the U.S. pressures, Iran's Foreign Ministry said on Saturday.

The U.S. President Donald Trump once again had to extend waivers that are mandatory under the deal reached between Iran and world powers, officially called the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), the foreign ministry said in a statement.

The stance of Iran and international support for the agreement has blocked attempts by Trump and Israel to terminate this deal or make changes to it, said the statement.

"The Islamic Republic of Iran stresses clearly that it will not take any measures beyond its commitment to the JCPOA, nor will it accept changes to this agreement now or any time in the future. It also will not allow the JCPOA to be linked to any other issue," it said.

Trump said on Friday he will extend sanctions relief on Iran under the 2015 nuclear deal for the last time, threatening U.S. withdrawal from the landmark pact unless U.S. Congress and European allies can fix the alleged "disastrous flaws."

Calling it "a last chance," Trump said in a White House statement that his country "will not again waive sanctions in order to stay in the Iran nuclear deal."

Responding to Trump's harsh stance, Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif said on Friday that it was "desperate attempts" to undermine an accord which Iran said was "not renegotiable."

"Trump's policy and today's announcement amount to desperate attempts to undermine a solid multilateral agreement," said Zarif on Twitter.

"JCPOA is not renegotiable; rather than repeating tired rhetoric, the United States must bring itself to full compliance, just like Iran," he said.

On Saturday, the spokesman for the Iranian parliament's presiding board, Behrouz Nemati, said that the JCPOA is an international agreement that neither the United States nor any other powers can violate unilaterally, according to Tasnim news agency.

If the United States really makes such a move to violate the deal, Iran will show an astonishing reaction, he added.

Trump has constantly criticized the pact inked between the six world powers, namely China, Russia, Britain, France, the United States and Germany, and Iran in 2015, in which the West promised to relieve sanctions on Tehran in exchange for a halt in Iran's efforts to develop a nuclear weapon.

Under the deal, the U.S. president must sign a waiver suspending the U.S. sanctions on Iran every 120 days.

The United States is the only party that has threatened to scrap the deal, a stance that has been confronted by other participants.

France, Britain, China and Russia have called on the United States to maintain its commitment to the Iranian nuclear deal which is "a beneficial practice of solving a critical issue through political and diplomatic means."

As Trump agreed to the sanctions relief, U.S. Department of Treasury said on Friday that it has imposed new sanctions on 14 individuals and entities over Iran's alleged human rights abuses and ballistic missile program, including head of Iran's judiciary and the cyber unit of the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps.

The United States has sanctioned around 100 individuals and entities involved with Iran's ballistic missile program and other activities which the United States saw as "illicit," according to Trump's statement on Friday.

The White House is working with the congress on a U.S. legislation, which seeks provisions to permanently prevent Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons and subject Iran's long-range missile program to severe sanctions.

The legislation is required to include certain "triggers" which will automatically lead to a reimposition of the sanctions if Iran fails to apply.

Iran has dismissed U.S. calls for the quit of missile program development, and it has stressed that its nuclear program is peaceful. Enditem