Iran suspends MoU commitments after US breaches: Deputy FM
FM spox says Tehran ‘never initiated any violations’
Iran's deputy foreign minister said on Saturday that the Islamic Republic has suspended the implementation of all its commitments under the “Islamabad Memorandum of Understanding" after the United States violated its own obligations by attacking Iran.
"The United States has practically trampled on all of its commitments, stopped implementing all of them, and we have also suspended all of our commitments under that memorandum. We are not implementing any of them at present," Kazem Gharibabadi told the state broadcaster on Saturday.
“We are now focused on defending the country and responding to aggressors.”
In response to a question about any contact between the two countries for resumption of negotiations, the Iranian official said, "We were already engaged in negotiations, but unfortunately it was the Americans themselves who carried out these aggressive actions and violated their commitments under the Islamabad Memorandum of Understanding.”
Gharibabadi said Iran's immediate priority is to defend the country in a “unified and decisive manner," adding that the United States had already received a response showing that its aggressive actions will go nowhere.
"If they are wise, they should choose other approaches," he said.
The deputy foreign minister said Iran's current course of action is "the decisive defense of our country and teaching the aggressors a lesson."
Meanwhile, Iranian Foreign Ministry Spokesman Esmaeil Baqaei said in an exclusive interview with Sulaiman Ahmed, an independent British journalist and geopolitical analyst, that the Islamic Republic has never violated any agreements and invariably adhered to obligations.
When asked whether Iran had revoked the Islamabad MoU, Baqaei replied, "We never initiated any violations. No commitment we have made — whether the JCPOA, which was violated by the United States, or this MoU — has ever been revoked by Iran. The United States violated this agreement."
The spokesman added, "From day one, we made it clear that commitment is met with commitment. Since the United States violated its obligations, Iran will not fulfill its commitments either, as this is a reciprocal action. We made it clear that as long as this violation continues, Iran will be unable to implement its commitments."
Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian and his American counterpart Donald Trump digitally signed the agreement on June 18 to end attacks on all fronts, remove a US blockade affecting Iranian ports and the reopen of the Strait of Hormuz which was closed by Iran following the US-Israeli aggression in February.
The 14-point MoU also includes a commitment to clinch a final deal within 60 days on sanctions imposed on Iran as well as the country’s nuclear program. However, the US violated the agreement by launching new aggression against Iran, forcing Tehran to abandon its commitments under the MoU.
A top Iranian military adviser also warned that if the US continues the war for another two to three days, the country will enter an "offensive and destructive" phase. Mohsen Rezaei, military adviser to Iran's Leader Ayatollah Seyyed Mojtaba Khamenei, said in an interview that the policy of "both war and negotiation" has ended, adding that if US attacks continue, Iran's Armed Forces will no longer limit themselves to retaliatory strikes, and US bases and forces will no longer be safe within any political borders.
Rezaei said Iran has so far exercised restraint to prevent the war from expanding into a broader regional and international crisis.
He warned that if the United States continues its anti-Iran actions, Iran will deploy additional military capabilities, including ground forces, and the war's scope will expand.