Retired US generals back Iran nuclear deal

Titled, 'The Iran deal continues to benefit US national security,' the letter said, “Iran has complied with its obligations under the JCPOA and by dismantling two-thirds of its centrifuges, surrendering 98 percent of its stockpiled uranium and destroying the core of its heavy water reactor.”

The former US military officers wrote the letter to mark the two-year anniversary of the nuclear deal which was concluded in July 2015 between Iran, the European Union and the P5+1 group of nations: the United States, Russia, France, Germany, the United Kingdom and China,” the Russian news network, sputnik, reported on Thursday.

The officers have also urged [President] Trump’s administration “to establish official diplomatic communications channels with the Iranian government”, adding that diplomatic channels “are essential to ensure the continued implementation of the nuclear agreement”.

Trump has repeatedly criticized the deal, calling it “one of the worst deals in history” and had once claimed that he will dismantle it.

Meanwhile, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) has frequently insisted on the peaceful nature of Iran’s nuclear program and on the fact that Iran has been faithful to its JCPOA commitments.

High Representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Federica Mogherini in a news conference with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov in Brussels on Tuesday (July 12), reiterated EU support for the historic nuclear deal by saying, “…JCPOA does not belong to a single country; rather it belongs to the international community and has been endorsed by the UN Security Council.”

On July 11, Deputy Foreign Minister of the Russian Federation Sergei Ryabkov said in Tehran that Moscow opposes any rewriting or reinterpretation of JCPOA and believes that questioning the viability and the relevance of the historic nuclear deal “is very disturbing”.

Speaking to reporters prior to his meeting with Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi, the Russian diplomat referred to the JCPOA as “a very advantageous agreement for benefit of both Iran and the regional security and stability and global security and stability”.

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