EU making contradictory statements on JCPOA: Iranian official

Ali Akbar Velayati said on Sunday that while some EU officials claim to be committed to the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), the bloc is refusing to give guarantees and stand against the US. 

"Some European officials say they are not supposed to stand up to America and give guarantees," said Velayati who is a senior adviser to Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei on international affairs.

"These contradictions in the comments of European officials raise doubts. We hope that our authorities could get the necessary guarantees in their negotiations" with the Europeans, he said, adding "a duplicitous side, which makes contradictory remarks, cannot be trusted."

Velayati touched on French oil giant Total's threat to quit Iran, saying the company was a good case in point after it announced to have suspended its $2 billion project in the Islamic Republic.  

President Donald Trump announced US pullout from the Iran nuclear deal on May 8 and vowed to reinstate US nuclear sanctions on Iran and impose “the highest level” of economic bans on the Islamic Republic.

Tehran has said it would make a decision on its future role in the nuclear agreement in the coming weeks following negotiations with the other signatories of the deal.