Iran's Deputy Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said on Sunday that the United States is seeking to exit from the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) on Iran's nuclear program while putting the blame for the deal's failure on Tehran, Mehr reported.

“The new bill imposes sanctions on Iran under the pretext of human rights, terrorism, missile program and whatever excuse that is not nuclear-related, in an attempt to scare individuals away from doing business with Iran,” Araghchi explained, saying the US move is a violation of nuclear deal as it undermines the principle of ‘implementation with goodwill’ included in the multilateral accord.

The Iranian diplomat stressed that “the US want to put pressure on Iran until we either reach a critical point in our anger or the benefits of the nuclear deal drop to the point where we decide to pull out of it. But the principle to which we are adamantly committed is that we will keep the deal as long as it benefits us. Once its disadvantages and costs exceed its benefits, we will not hesitate to drop the deal.”

Araghchi stressed however that Iran would make sure to strike a blow to US in response to the sanctions bill without risking the nuclear deal.