Iran to Take More Steps to Reduce JCPOA Commitments: Kharrazi
TEHRAN (Tasnim) – Head of Iran’s Strategic Council on Foreign Relations Kamal Kharrazi said the country will take more steps to scale back its commitments under the 2015 nuclear deal, known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), if the other parties fail to meet Tehran’s 60-day deadline.
Speaking at a meeting with Britain's Middle East Minister Andrew Murrison in Tehran on Sunday, Kharrazi emphasized that the JCPOA’s effectiveness hinges on the other parties’ adherence to their obligations.
“Iran is resolved to suspend the implementation of some parts of its commitments based on the JCPOA’s text and its reserved right,” he said.
Undoubtedly, Iran would take further steps to suspend its obligations if the other side does not take a proper measure on the JCPOA in the next two weeks, the Iranian official stated.
Murrison, for his part, reiterated London’s stance on the nuclear deal and the need for further efforts to protect the JCPOA.
Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif announced on Friday that the country plans to begin the second phase of measures to reduce its commitments under the JCPOA on July 7.
Speaking to reporters after a meeting with his Turkish counterpart, Mevlut Cavusoglu, in the central city of Isfahan on Friday, Zarif pointed to Iran’s measures regarding the JCPOA and said in President Hassan Rouhani’s letter to the leaders of the JCPOA parties and in his letter to EU foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini, Iran has announced two phases of measures.
The first phase started on May 8 and the second phase will begin on July 7, the Iranian top diplomat added.
On May 8, 2018, US President Donald Trump pulled his country out of the JCPOA, a 159-page nuclear agreement between Iran and the Group 5+1 (Russia, China, the US, Britain, France and Germany) came into force in January 2016.
Following the US withdrawal, Iran and the remaining parties launched talks to save the accord.
However, the EU’s failure to ensure Iran’s economic interests forced Tehran to stop honoring certain commitments under JCPOA on May 8, 2019.
Iran has also set a 60-day deadline for the remaining JCPOA parties to fulfill their undertakings.
In a meeting with Secretary General of the European External Action Service (EEAS) Helga Schmid on Saturday, Iran’s Deputy Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi reminded the EU parties that the two-month deadline will by no means be extended.
For the first step in halting certain commitments under the JCPOA, Iran has ceased to observe the limits on uranium enrichment and begun to produce an unlimited amount of heavy water at the Arak nuclear facility during the 60-day deadline.