TEHRAN, Oct. 5 (Xinhua) -- Iran's atomic chief said on Thursday that the nuclear deal reached between Iran and the world powers in 2015 is not renegotiable, Press TV reported.
"We have emphasized repeatedly that the nuclear deal (known as JCPOA) is not renegotiable," said Ali Akbar Salehi, head of the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran (AEOI), in the Italian capital of Rome.
"Some want the JCPOA to be renegotiated in technical dimensions, but it is not renegotiable," Salehi added, referring to some of the U.S. administration officials' insistence on renegotiating Iran's nuclear deal or quitting it.
Russia, China and the EU, which were engaged in the sealing of the deal, have all said the accord is not renegotiable, the atomic chief noted.
"If the United States leaves the JCPOA, and other countries follow the suit, the JCPOA will definitely fall apart, but if only Washington walks away, our monitoring committee on the JCPOA should make a decision in this regard," he said.
Earlier, Iran's Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif warned that Tehran will only abide by the provisions under the nuclear deal if the other parties remain committed to it.
If the agreement collapses, Iran would come up with more advanced nuclear technology than the pre-agreement era, he said.
"If we decide to walk away from the deal, we would be walking away with better technology," he said, adding that "it will always remain peaceful."
The JCPOA faces the risk of collapse amid a dispute between Washington and Tehran.
In his address to the recent UN General Assembly, U.S. President Donald Trump described the JCPOA as "an embarrassment."
