Iranian Official Reiterates US Violated Nuclear Deal By Urging Companies Not To Invest In Iran

A senior Iranian official reiterated allegations previously made by other officials in the country that the U.S. has been violating the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) nuclear deal, signed last July, and said that Washington was urging companies not to invest in the country. Iran's Judiciary Chief Sadeq Amoli Larijani said Monday that the U.S. pressured the companies, despite the deal calling for retracting the sanctions against the country, Iran’s Fars News agency reported.

“The Americans are now acting in violation of the nuclear agreement,” Larijani reportedly told high-ranking judicial officials in the country, adding: “The Americans should know that the Islamic Republic of Iran would never compromise its interests.”

The U.S. and Iran are currently facing issues over the latter's Revolutionary Guards carrying out ballistic missile tests. Washington alleged that the tests, conducted last month, violated United Nations Security Council Resolution 2231, which calls for Iran to refrain from launching any ballistic missiles that can deliver a nuclear weapon. Iran, however, denied that the move was in violation of the resolution and said the test was for self-defense purposes. Russia also supported Iran and said the resolution only called for it to refrain from ballistic missile test and did not order it to do so.

Last month, Iran’s Supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said, addressing a large group of people in the northeastern part of the country: “The Americans did not act on what they promised in the nuclear accord [the JCPOA]; they did not do what they should have done. According to Foreign Minister [Mohammad Javad Zarif], they brought something on the paper but prevented materialization of the objectives of the Islamic Republic of Iran through many diversionary ways,” according to Fars News Agency.

Khamenei also said: “What a hue and cry did they launch in the case of the missiles ... The Americans and one of the regional countries launch war games every now and then in the Persian Gulf, which is several thousands of kilometers away of their country, while they have no responsibility there. Iran carries out military exercise in its own security boundary and home.”

In March, Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif said that Washington has made commitments that it should undertake. “Unfortunately, some presidential candidates are pursuing mischief by using the poisonous atmosphere created by the Zionist lobby in Washington,” Zarif said, according to Fars News, adding: “With the serious follow-up of the Islamic Republic of Iran, the U.S. government is obliged to execute its commitments not only in theory but in practice.”

Last week, Khamenei also said that those who believe that Iran’s future lies in negotiations instead of missiles are wrong. “If the Islamic Republic seeks negotiations but has no defensive power, it would have to back down against threats from any weak country,” he said.