France, Germany, UK Discuss Working with Joe Biden on JCPOA
TEHRAN (Tasnim) – European foreign ministers from France, Germany and the UK met to discuss a joint approach with the incoming Joe Biden administration on reviving the 2015 Iran nuclear deal.
The three nations, whose ministers met in Berlin, are hoping Tehran can reach an agreement under which the US would lift its sanctions in return for Iran reversing the suspension of its commitments under the multilateral deal, the Guardian reported on Monday.
Biden, the US president-elect, has said he wants the US to rejoin the deal, known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), if Iran returns to its commitments.
Last week, Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif said Iran was ready to resume its commitments under the 2015 nuclear accord if the US stops violations of UN Security Council Resolution 2231 that endorsed the deal and lifts its sanctions.
“America should live up to its commitments. America has no other option. America’s (sole) option is to return (to its commitments). Why? Because the people’s resistance has defeated the policy of maximum pressure,” he said.
The JCPOA was signed in 2015 between Iran and six world states — namely the US, Germany, France, Britain, Russia and China — and was ratified in the form of Resolution 2231.
However, the US under President Donald Trump unilaterally pulled out of the JCPOA in May 2018 and reinstated the anti-Iran sanctions that had been lifted by the deal.
The Trump administration also unleashed the so-called maximum pressure campaign and targeted the Iranian nation with the “toughest ever” restrictive measures.
As the remaining European parties failed to fulfill their end of the bargain and compensate for Washington’s absence, Iran moved in May 2019 to scale back its JCPOA commitments under Articles 26 and 36 of the accord covering Tehran’s legal rights.