MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 23rd May, 2019) Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has expressed discontent over the way the implementation of the embattled Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), also known as the Iran nuclear deal, had been coordinated by the country's officials.
Negotiated back in 2015, the deal envisaged the removal of western sanctions against Tehran in exchange for the middle Eastern country maintaining the peaceful nature of its nuclear program. Last year, US President Donald Trump, the long-time critic of the multinational agreement, decided to pull the United States out of it, prompting criticism by Iran and other signatories of the agreement.
"I did not believe in the way the JCPOA was done and I have made this clear to the president [Hassan Rouhani] and the foreign minister [Mohammad Javad Zarif] on many occasions," Khamenei said during a meeting with students on Wednesday, as quoted by the Mehr news agency.
The agency added Khamenei criticized the way Iranian diplomats handled the implementation of the deal.
Earlier in May, Washington re-introduced various sanctions targeting Iran's finance, transport, military areas and other industries. Tehran responded by criticizing other signatories of the accord for their failure to settle the disagreements over the JCPOA.
Moreover, Tehran decided to partially discontinue its commitments under the deal and gave Europe 60 days to ensure its interests were protected.
Apart from Iran and the United States, the deal was signed by China, France, Germany, the European Union, Russia and the United Kingdom.
