Slovenia Seeking to Help Save JCPOA: Envoy
TEHRAN (Tasnim) – Slovenian Ambassador to Iran Kristina Radej said her country as a member of the European Union (EU) would make efforts to save the 2015 nuclear deal, known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), following the US withdrawal from the deal.
Speaking to the Tasnim News Agency, Radej expressed concern about the future of economic relations between Tehran and Ljubljana after Washington’s move to leave the JCPOA and said her country as an EU member state would make efforts to help save the nuclear deal.
“We are committed to the nuclear agreement,” she said, adding that Slovenia’s position is to continue supporting the JCPOA.
The European Union is looking for ways to protect its companies that trade with Iran, but it remains to be seen what result the measures will yield, the Slovenian diplomat went on to say.
The remarks came after a number of Iran’s top diplomats and administration officials on Sunday attended a closed session of the parliament about the future of the JCPOA.
Last week, Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif made a tight diplomatic trip for negotiations on how to save the JCPOA in the wake of the US withdrawal from the multilateral nuclear deal.
The foreign minister held meetings with Chinese and Russian officials in Beijing and Moscow and then traveled to Brussels for talks with the European parties to the JCPOA.
He was gauging international readiness to guarantee Iran’s interests if it decides to remain in the nuclear pact a week after US President Donald Trump announced that the US was walking away from the JCPOA.
In a speech from the White House on May 8, Trump accused Iran of sponsoring terrorism and seeking nukes before announcing the US withdrawal from the 2015 agreement between Iran and the Group 5+1 (Russia, China, the US, Britain, France and Germany).
Following the controversial decision, Iranian President Hassan Rouhani said Iran weighs plans to remain in the agreement with the other five parties, provided that they ensure full benefits for Iran.
Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyed Ali Khamenei has underlined that any decision to keep the deal running without the US should be conditional on “practical guarantees” from the three European parties to the JCPOA.