Rouhani: Iran Ready to Abide by Nuclear Commitments

Iranian President Hassan Rouhani said Wednesday that Tehran may remove centrifuges if the other parties abide by the nuclear deal.

According to Iranian media, Rouhani said, "Any centrifuges that are placed in our nuclear facilities can be removed if the other parties abide by their obligations."

"The US administration headed by Donald Trump, by his actions, has damaged the confidence of others in it, and damaged the stability and security of the region and the world,” he added.

Meanwhile, the Secretary-General of the United Nations, Antonio Guterres, urged Iran to address the concerns raised about its nuclear and ballistic missile programs and to return to "full implementation" of the 2015 agreement with the major powers.

In a report to the Security Council, which the Associated Press obtained a copy of, the Secretary-General of the United Nations expressed his regret at the President Trump's withdrawal from the agreement in 2018 and imposing sanctions on Tehran, and Iran's decision in 2019 to violate the restrictions imposed in the agreement.

In this regard, the US President-Elect's National Security Adviser, Jake Sullivan, has said that the incoming administration, led by Joe Biden, wants to return Iran "into the box" by reverting to the nuclear deal and forcing Tehran to comply with the terms of the original agreement.

“In return, the United States will be prepared to respect the terms of the 2015 deal,” Sullivan said at the Chief Executives Board’s summit organized by The Wall Street Journal.

In another context, the United States imposed, Wednesday, terrorism-related sanctions on the Iranian ambassador to the Yemeni Houthi group, Hassan Erlo, in a move that may aim to pressure the Houthis to reach an agreement to end the five-year-old war in Yemen.

Erlo was described by the US Treasury Department as an official in the Quds Force, the overseas arm of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard and the main component of Iran's efforts to extend its influence in Yemen, Syria and other areas in the Middle East.

The ministry also imposed terrorism-related sanctions on Al-Mustafa International University in Iran, which it said was using its branches around the world as a platform to recruit followers of the Quds Force in order to collect intelligence information and carry out operations.