Iran’s Zarif: Sanctions, JCPOA Compliance Mutually Exclusive
TEHRAN (Tasnim) – Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif reminded the European countries that commitment to the 2015 nuclear deal and facing sanctions could not exist together.
While top diplomats from Iran and the three European parties to the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action have gathered in Vienna for talks on salvaging the agreement, foreign minister of Iran urged his European counterparts to push for “verifiable and actionable” commitments.
“In Vienna for JCPOA Ministerial Meeting. My mandate is crystal clear: Forge practical solutions. Expecting EU/E3+2 counterparts to make verifiable and actionable commitments rather than lofty and obscure promises. Make no mistake: Sanctions and JCPOA compliance are mutually exclusive,” Zarif said in a twitter message early Friday.
The message came after president of Iran confirmed that the country has received a long-awaited European proposal for saving the Iran nuclear deal, but complained that the ‘disappointing’ package does not meet Tehran’s demands and still needs to provide a clear practical plan with definite time frame.
“Unfortunately, there was no clear method or operational solution for the continuation of cooperation, and the package only contained a series of general commitments like in the EU’s previous statements,” President Rouhani told German Chancellor Angela Merkel in a telephone conversation on Thursday.
In another telephone conversation with French leader Emmanuel Macron, Rouhani said, “Europe’s proposed package regarding the continuation of the trend of cooperation over the JCPOA does not meet all of our demands, and we hope the trend of talks between the ministers of the five countries tomorrow in Vienna will be able to fulfill Iran’s demands in order to continue cooperation over the JCPOA.”
On May 8, the US president pulled his country out of the JCPOA, which was achieved in 2015 after years of negotiations among Iran and the Group 5+1 (Russia, China, the US, Britain, France and Germany).
Following the US exit, Iran and the remaining parties launched talks to save the accord.
Meanwhile, Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyed Ali Khamenei has underlined that any decision to keep the JCPOA running without the US should be conditional on “practical guarantees” from the Europeans.