Iran to Further Reduce Nuclear Commitments on Sept. 6: Zarif
TEHRAN (Tasnim) – Iran’s foreign minister said the country would begin suspending more of its commitments under the 2015 nuclear deal between Tehran and world powers on September 6.
“The third phase (of freezing nuclear obligations) will start on September 6," Mohammad Javad Zarif said in an interview with the Sueddeutsche Zeitung newspaper published on Tuesday.
The first phase started on May 8 and the second phase on July 7. Tehran has rowed back on its nuclear commitments twice in compliance with articles 26 and 36 of the 2015 deal, known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA).
He added that Iran would reconsider its upcoming decision if it reaches an agreement with Europe and the European side starts implementing it.
Iran and the Group 5+1 (Russia, China, US, Britain, France, and Germany) on July 14, 2015, reached a conclusion over the text of the JCPOA.
The accord took effect in January 2016 and was supposed to terminate all nuclear-related sanctions against Iran all at once, but its implementation was hampered by the US policies and its eventual withdrawal from the deal.
On May 8, 2018, US President Donald Trump pulled his country out of the nuclear accord.
Following the US withdrawal, Iran and the remaining parties launched talks to save the deal.
However, the EU’s failure to ensure Iran’s economic interests forced Tehran to stop honoring certain commitments, including an unlimited rise in the stockpile of enriched uranium.
Spokesman for the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran (AEOI) Behrouz Kamalvandi said recently that the country’s enriched uranium stockpile has reached 360 to 370 kilograms.