Biden’s failure to honor JCPOA betrayal of US voters: Rouhani

Speaking at a cabinet session on Wednesday, Rouhani said although Biden had in his campaign trail frequently slammed Donald Trump for the mistake to pull Washington out of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action and admitted that the sanctions on Iran are futile, the new US administration has maintained Trump’s policy of crimes and economic war against Iran.

If Biden procrastinates, even to a small extent, in carrying out the JCPOA, he would betray the votes of the American people, the Iranian president added, according to Tasnim News Agency.

Rouhani said Biden is continuing Trump’s “economic terrorism” against Iran by denying the country’s access to medicines and foodstuffs through sanctions.

“Trump’s successors have continued his crimes up until today. They are criminals of the same path that Trump took,” he said.

Highlighting Iran’s attempts to settle the problems under the economic war and coronavirus-related troubles, Rouhani said the government had made every effort over the past three and a half years to have the JCPOA implemented and the sanctions lifted.

The people of Iran should know if the economic war on the country had not been waged by Trump and the coronavirus pandemic had not broken out, Iran’s economic growth rate, without oil revenues, would have stood at 4.1%, the inflation rate would have been 11.5%, the investment growth rate would have reached 4.7%, and the gross domestic product would have been 22% higher than what it is now, Rouhani stated.

He also reiterated that Iran has never been after weapons of mass destruction, while its nuclear activities are entirely peaceful. “The accusations (of pursuing nukes) against Iran are baseless and unreasonable, and the JCPOA is a document testifying that Iran is not after nuclear weapons.”

The US left the JCPOA in 2018 and restored the economic sanctions that the accord had lifted. Tehran retaliated with remedial nuclear measures that it is entitled to take under the JCPOA.

Iran and the remaining JCPOA parties have launched talks in Vienna since April 6 to revive the agreement.

Source: Iran Daily