TEHRAN – The spokesman for the Iranian Foreign Ministry said on Sunday that Tehran has left the door open for dialogue on implementation of the JCPOA but it will never decide the nation’s fate based on foreigners’ promises and words.

Seyed Abbas Mousavi said that the Europeans can’t utilize a snapback mechanism in response to Tehran’s reaction to the U.S. unilateral withdrawal from the JCPOA and imposing illegal sanctions on the country.

According to the JCPOA, commonly called the nuclear deal, Iran agreed to put limits on its nuclear activities in exchange for termination of economic and financial sanctions.

“If they (the Europeans) try to do so (resorting to snapback mechanism), our nation will have a vast spectrum of choices to choose. We will decide based on the upcoming situation.”

“We have not relied on anybody. We have not relied on any promise or any word. We do our duty based on our natural mission. Different parts (nuclear sites) in our country have shown that they will not wait for materialization of promises and talks. They proved in last months that they are well-prepared to take strides along with the Foreign Ministry in line with the country’s national interests.” 

He further said the EU mechanism for trade with Iran, officially called INSTEX (Instrument in Support of Trade Exchanges), is ready to go on stream, but it “has not thus far become operational as we have been expecting.” 

The spokesman said the European INSTEX and its Iranian counterpart STFI (Special Trade, and Finance Institute) have recently held a meeting “showing the mechanism is ready to be operational.”

“INSTEX is a tool for implementation of plans, so whenever their large plans are implementable, INSTEX will be implemented too,” Mousavi explained. 

Deputy Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi said on Saturday that his country was ready to return to pre-modification of the nuclear deal’s obligations if the oil and banking sanctions on Tehran were lifted. 

Talking to reporters in Moscow, Araqchi said, “Iran is ready to return to pre-modification of undertakings under the JCPOA if sanctions imposed on Tehran during this period are lifted.”

MJ/PA