Iran to Live Up to JCPOA Commitments in Same Manner as EU Does: Zarif
TEHRAN (Tasnim) – Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif deplored the European Union’s continued failure to fulfill its obligations under the 2015 nuclear deal, known as JCPOA, saying Tehran will comply with its commitments in the same manner as the EU does.
“We have explicitly stated that if Europe is committed to the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), we will also be committed,” Zarif told reporters on the sidelines of a cabinet session in Tehran on Wednesday.
“We comply with our commitments in the same manner as Europe has done,” he said, adding that Iran’s next move to reduce its JCPOA commitments would be the non-commitment to the 3.67% enriched uranium limits under the deal.
He further touched upon the EU’s long-awaited financial mechanism for trading with Iran, known as the Instrument in Support of Trade Exchanges (INSTEX), and said Europe’s commitments are beyond the INSTEX.
Iran wants the Europeans to fulfill their obligations under the JCPOA, the Iranian top diplomat noted.
INSTEX is a payment channel that France, Germany and Britain - the three European signatories to the JCPOA - have devised to continue trade with Tehran and bypass the US embargoes.
The European payment channel, however, has not brought about any change in Iran’s foreign trade.
On Friday, negotiators from Iran and the Group 4+1 (Russia, China, Britain, France and Germany) convened in the Austrian capital to discuss ways to save the JCPOA.
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.