Rouhani Hopes New US Administration Will Make Up for Past Mistakes, Return to Rule of Law

Thursday, 18 February 2021 10:31 AM 

Press TV 

Iranian President Hassan Rouhani addresses the inaugural ceremony of four industrial and mineral projects via videoconference on February 18, 2021. (Photo by president.ir)

Iranian President Hassan Rouhani says the new US administration needs to act swiftly to make up for the past mistakes and return to the rule of law by resuming its commitments under a UN resolution that endorsed the 2015 agreement on the Iranian nuclear program.

“Implementing and respecting international law, commitments and treaties are among the humanitarian and political duties of all governments,” Rouhani said in a videoconference address to the inaugural ceremony of four industrial and mineral projects on Thursday.

“Therefore, we hope that they [US] will return to the rule of law so that we will be able to conduct our interactions, particularly in the trade sector, in the world under better circumstances,” he added.

He said the former “madman” at the White House waged war against the Iranian nation that was unprecedented in the history, referring to ex-US president Donald Trump.

Trump imagined that he could bring Iran to its knees by exercising pressure on the nation and forcing it to succumb, Rouhani added.

However, he said, American people and the current president of the country have realized that the former president was wrong,” expressing hope that “those mistakes will be compensated for as soon as possible, and the new US administration will submit to the law, regulations and [UN Security Council] Resolution 2231.”

Iran’s President Rouhani rules out any renegotiations of the JCPOA, says the US should practically lift its sanctions in the first place in order for the agreement to get back on track.

In 2015, Iran and six world states — namely the US, Germany, France, Britain, Russia and China — signed the JCPOA which was ratified in the form of UN Security Council Resolution 2231.

However, the US under the Trump administration unilaterally left the nuclear agreement in May 2018, and then put enormous pressure on Iran with the declared aim of making a “better deal” that it said should include Iran’s missile program and its regional activities.

The Trump administration also launched what it called a maximum pressure campaign against Iran, targeting the Iranian nation with the “toughest ever” restrictive measures.

Following Washington’s exit, Iran remained fully compliant with the JCPOA for an entire year waiting for the co-signatories to honor their commitments and offset the impacts of the US withdrawal.

As the remaining European parties failed to fulfill their end of the bargain under US pressure, Iran began in May 2019 to scale back its JCPOA commitments under Articles 26 and 36 of the accord covering Tehran’s legal rights.

Joe Biden, the current president of the United States, censured Trump’s withdrawal from the JCPOA during his 2020 campaign. He promised to rejoin the accord, which was signed when Biden was vice president, but has failed to take corrective measures since he assumed office on January 20 and has conditioned a return to the deal on Tehran’s resumption of full compliance with the agreement.

Iran, however, says a potential return of the United States could only be meaningful if Washington removed all of the sanctions practically in a way that it would be verifiable by Tehran.

Rouhani emphasized that Iran does not want the US to carry out illegal measures but only demands that it adheres to law.