Iran (not Europe) reason why JCPOA is alive
Iran’s foreign minister Mr. Mohammad Javad Zarif believes
since the inception of JCPOA in July 2015 the three European signatories to the historic
nuclear deal with Iran have done practically nothing to protect it and it is
only alive due to Iran’s efforts to maintain the deal.
Zarif’s comments came in a Sunday message on twitter after
three European signatories to the nuclear deal, officially known as the Joint
Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), accused Iran of intending to produce
uranium metal-based fuel has military implications and also after his French
counterpart, Jean Yves Le Drian, made the claim that Iran "is in the
process of acquiring nuclear (weapons) capacity."
In an official statement on Saturday, the three European
sides – the United Kingdom, Germany and France – claimed that Iran’s move to resume
work on uranium metal-based fuel contravened the JCPOA, stating that under the
deal, Iran had committed to not engaging in production of uranium metal or
conducting research and development on uranium metallurgy for a decade and a
half.
“We strongly urge Iran to halt this activity, and return to
compliance with its JCPOA commitments without further delay if it is serious
about preserving the deal,” the trio’s statement said.
Nevertheless, the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran (AEOI)
on Saturday rejected the accusation and encouraged the International Atomic
Energy Agency (IAEA) and the European trio to avoid cause any
“misunderstanding” surrounding the issue, emphasizing that the Islamic Republic
had not yet “presented the design information questionnaire (DIQ) of the
uranium metal factory” to the UN nuclear agency.
In response to the claim by the three European parties to
the multilateral nuclear accprd, Zarif tweeted, “E3 leaders—who rely on
signature of OFAC (Office of Foreign Assets Control) functionaries to carry out
their obligations under JCPOA—have done ZILCH to maintain JCPOA.”
He stressed that “JCPOA is alive because of Iran and not
E3.”
Zarif also addressed the comments made in an interview made
by his French counterpart in a Saturday interview conducted with the Journal du
Dimanche.
In that interview, Le Drian claimed that the campaign of
"maximum pressure" against Tehran employed by the administration of
the outgoing US President Donald Trump was not successful and "only increased
the risk and the threat," adding, “This has to stop because Iran and - I
say this clearly - is in the process of acquiring nuclear (weapons)
capacity."
US President Trump unilaterally withdrew Washington from of
the JCPOA in May 2018, and unleashed the “toughest ever” economic sanctions
against the Islamic Republic in defiance of worldwide criticism.
Iran, nevertheless, remained fully compliant with the JCPOA
for an entire year, waiting for the co-signatories to fulfill their end of the
bargain by offsetting the effects of American bans on the Iranian economy. Iran’s
commitment to the deal, even after the unilateral withdrawal of the US, is
precisely why now the Iranian Foreign Minister can so proudly announce that the
European Union should be grateful to Iran for the survival of said deal.
007
