E3 Issues Joint Statement, Raises Alarm over Iran’s New Parliamentary Bill

“We, the governments of France, Germany and the United Kingdom have worked tirelessly to preserve the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA). It is a key achievement of multilateral diplomacy and the global non-proliferation architecture,” the three European parties to the 2015 nuclear deal, which have so far failed to honor their commitments under the agreement, said in a joint statement on Monday.

The statement further read, “Iran’s recent announcement to the IAEA that it intends to install an additional three cascades of advanced centrifuges at the Fuel Enrichment Plant in Natanz is contrary to the JCPOA and deeply worrying”.

Reuters recently quoted a confidential IAEA report as saying that the Islamic Republic plans to install three more cascades, or clusters, of advanced IR-2m centrifuges in the enrichment plant in the central city of Natanz.

After the confidential report by the UN nuclear watchdog was leaked to the media, Iran’s ambassador and permanent representative to international organizations in Vienna, Kazem Gharibabadi, said that Tehran will soon begin its “serious” legal pursuit of the leakage of confidential reports prepared by the IAEA. 

The statement also said, "… we have taken note, with great concern, of the recent law passed by the Iranian Parliament, which - if implemented - would substantially expand Iran’s nuclear program and limit IAEA monitoring access. The measures would be incompatible with the JCPOA and Iran’s wider nuclear commitments”.

A double-urgency draft bill was recently approved in the Iranian Parliament. The measure has mandated the government to limit the UN nuclear watchdog’s regulatory access, and tasked it with empowering the Islamic Republic’s nuclear program further in retaliation for the Western non-commitment to the nuclear accord.

Iran has so far rowed back on its nuclear commitments in compliance with Articles 26 and 36 of the JCPOA after the US withdrew from the JCPOA in 2018 and reinstated the anti-Iran sanctions and Europe failed to honor its obligations.

The Islamic Republic has repeatedly voiced its readiness to reverse the suspension of its commitments under the multilateral nuclear deal if other parties return to the accord and abide by their own obligations.

Following is the full text of the E3’s statement:

We, the governments of France, Germany and the United Kingdom have worked tirelessly to preserve the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA). It is a key achievement of multilateral diplomacy and the global non-proliferation architecture. We negotiated the JCPOA with the conviction that it would decisively contribute to building confidence in the exclusively peaceful nature of Iran’s nuclear program, as well as to international peace and security. It remains the best, and currently the only, way to monitor and constrain Iran’s nuclear program.

Iran’s recent announcement to the IAEA that it intends to install an additional three cascades of advanced centrifuges at the Fuel Enrichment Plant in Natanz is contrary to the JCPOA and deeply worrying.

Furthermore, we have taken note, with great concern, of the recent law passed by the Iranian Parliament, which - if implemented - would substantially expand Iran’s nuclear program and limit IAEA monitoring access. The measures would be incompatible with the JCPOA and Iran’s wider nuclear commitments.

If Iran is serious about preserving a space for diplomacy, it must not implement these steps. Such a move would jeopardize our shared efforts to preserve the JCPOA and risks compromising the important opportunity for a return to diplomacy with the incoming US Administration. A return to the JCPOA would also be beneficial for Iran.

We will address Iran’s non-compliance within the framework of the JCPOA. We welcome the statements by President-elect Biden on the JCPOA and a diplomatic path to address wider concerns with Iran. This is in all our interests.