The speaker of Iran’s parliament, Ali Larijani, has warned the West that his country will build nuclear plants if the implementation of the nuclear deal is delayed.
The Western powers are facing a “tough test”, Larijani said in a speech in the central Iranian city of Garmsar, the Iranian Tasnim news agency reported on Tuesday.
“You would either lift the sanctions, according to the deal, and avoid threatening behavior against the Iranian nation or fail to fulfill your promises, and if the latter is the case, the (Iranian) nation’s response will be harsh,” he threatened.
“If the Westerners fail to meet their pledges or delay the implementation of the provisions of the JCPOA, we will build enrichment plants,” he declared.
Sunday was the so-called “adoption day” for the deal reached in July, and it came 90 days after the two sides concluded their intensive negotiations in the Austrian capital of Vienna.
On that day, President Barack Obama signed an order directing his administration to begin issuing waivers to Iran nuclear sanctions, though the waivers will only go into effect once Iran meets its obligations under the agreement.
The Iranian parliament on October 13 voted to pass the details of a motion to implement the nuclear agreement, noted Tasnim.
Larijani’s threats are no surprise, seeing as Iranian leaders have continued to make threats against the West, particularly against the United States, even after the nuclear agreement was signed.
Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei last month said Tehran would not negotiate with the United States on any issue after the landmark nuclear deal with the six world powers in July, and has also repeatedly referred to American the “Great Satan” and presided over chants of “Death to America.”
Larijani, as well, has been at the center of the inciting statements with Israel as his focus. He has in the past boasted of the fact that Iran provided Hamas with the technology it has used to rain down rockets on Israel from Gaza and also referred to Israel as a “cancer”.
