France Says Europe Must Stay United to Preserve JCPOA
TEHRAN (Tasnim) – France’s Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian said on Monday that Europe had to remain united in trying to preserve the 2015 nuclear deal between Tehran and world powers.
“The Europeans have to stay united on this issue,” Le Drian told reporters at a meeting of foreign ministers of France, Germany and Britain in Brussels.
Iran’s decision to reduce compliance with the deal that the United States abandoned last year was “a bad response to a bad decision,” he said.
The three foreign ministers have convened in the Belgian capital to flesh out how to convince Iran and the United States to reduce tensions and initiate dialogue.
In a joint statement on Sunday, the three countries, who are party to the deal alongside Russia and China, said the time has come to “act responsibly and to look for ways to stop the escalation of tension and resume dialogue.”
In May 2018, US President Donald Trump pulled his country out of the deal, known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA).
Iran and the remaining parties launched talks to save the JCPOA after the US withdrawal, but the three EU parties to the deal (France, Britain, and Germany) have failed to ensure Iran’s economic interests.
The EU’s inaction forced Tehran to stop honoring certain commitments to the nuclear deal, including a rise in the stockpile of enriched uranium.
Iran maintains that the new measures are not designed to harm the JCPOA but to save the accord by creating a balance in the commitments.