EU Confirms Zarif Correspondence with Mogherini
TEHRAN (Tasnim) – An informed source at the European Union (EU) confirmed that Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif has written a letter to the bloc’s Foreign Policy Chief Federica Mogherini on the implementation of the 2015 nuclear deal between Tehran and world powers.
“Regarding your question, the HRVP (High Representative/Vice-President) received the letter from Minister Zarif related to the JCPOA implementation. In her capacity as coordinator of the Joint Commission, the HR shared letter with all E3 + 3," the source told Tasnim on Tuesday when asked if the Iranian minister had penned a letter to Mogherini.
The source added, “As you know, any party to the JCPOA can bring up issues related with the implementation to the attention of the coordinator which are then discussed in the joint commission. I will not comment on the details but can only reiterate that we expect all sides to fully adhere to their commitments under the deal.”
It came after the United States Senate Committee on Foreign Relations on May 25 approved a bill to impose new sanctions on Iran over its missile program.
Iran has repeatedly announced that the country’s missile program is purely defensive.
The committee voted 18-3 in favor of the measure, but the bill still requires the full Senate consideration and support by the House of Representatives and US President Donald Trump to become law.
US lawmakers, who backed the bill, said they believed that the bill would not violate terms of the 2015 nuclear deal, known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), reached between Iran and the Group 5+1 (Russia, China, the US, Britain, France and Germany).
However, senior Iranian officials, including the foreign minister, are concerned that the new measure can undermine the nuclear agreement.
Iran and the Group 5+1 (also known as E3+3) reached the 159-page nuclear agreement in July 2015 and implemented it in January 2016.
Since the historic deal was signed in Vienna, the IAEA has repeatedly confirmed the Islamic Republic’s compliance with its commitments under the JCPOA.
