Europeans Seeking to Create ‘Successor Deal’ to JCPOA: Report
TEHRAN (Tasnim) – Britain, France and Germany are reportedly trying to create a “successor deal” to the 2015 nuclear agreement between Tehran and world powers in an attempt to appease US President Donald Trump by making permanent the restrictions on Tehran’s ability to produce nuclear fuel.
“The Europeans are demanding a guarantee that Mr. Trump will abide by the add-on deal after it is negotiated and not jettison it on some other pretext,” according to a report carried by the New York Times on Monday.
The proposed instructions stipulate that the Europeans agree to three key fixes: “a commitment to renegotiate limits on missile testing by Iran; an assurance that inspectors have unfettered access to Iranian military bases; and an extension of the deal’s expiration dates to prevent Iran from resuming the production of nuclear fuel long after the current restrictions expire in 2030,” the report said.
“European diplomats said there was scope for an agreement on missiles and inspections, but not yet on the length of the deal,” it further said.
The European sides argue that rewriting those terms would break the deal they struck, not only with Iran but also with Russia and China, two other signatories. And breaching the deal, they say, would free Iran to “pursue nuclear weapons again.”
The diplomats said they worry that Trump’s scorn for the deal, known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), runs so deep that he would find other reasons to pull out.
Even if Trump did pledge to abide by the deal, it is far from clear that a successor deal would be endorsed by Russia or China, let alone the Iranians.
It seems that the Europeans are most comfortable with enforcing new limits on Iran’s intercontinental ballistic missile development and testing and, in fact, are using the alleged “flaws” mentioned by the US as an opportunity to curb the country’s missile capability.
Trump in January set a 120-day deadline for US lawmakers and European allies to "fix" his predecessor Barack Obama's main foreign policy achievement or face a US exit.
Iran has vehemently rejected the possibility of renegotiation, warning that any hostile action against the accord will jeopardize regional and global peace and security.
Since the historic deal was signed by Tehran and the Group 5+1 (Russia, China, the US, Britain, France and Germany) in Vienna in July 2015, the IAEA has repeatedly confirmed the Islamic Republic’s compliance with its commitments under the JCPOA, but some other parties, especially the US, have failed to live up to their undertakings.