Iran
Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei meets with President Hassan Rouhani’s cabinet in Tehran, August 28, 2019. Photo: khamenei.ir
ERBIL, Kurdistan Region – European powers have failed to meet their commitments under the 2015 nuclear deal, Iran’s President Hassan Rouhani told his French counterpart on Saturday, days after Paris launched a comprehensive effort to save the landmark accord.
Rouhani told French President Emmanuel Macron that European failures to uphold the terms of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) after the United States withdrew in May 2018 had forced Tehran to roll back its own commitments.
“The full implementation of the commitments of both parties as part of JCPOA and maintaining freedom of navigation in all the straits including in the Persian Gulf and the Strait of Hormuz, are the two main goals of Iran in the current negotiation,” Rouhani told Macron in a telephone call, according to state media.
“Unfortunately after the unilateral action of America, the European countries did not take any step in the direction of implementing their commitments.”
France is the latest country to attempt to defuse tensions in the Persian Gulf following an escalating series of events including attacks on vessels, the shooting down of a US spy drone, and the seizure of a British-flagged tanker, which have raised the prospect of war between Iran and the US.
Rouhani warned the French president Iran will not shy away from taking further steps in reducing its commitments under the nuclear deal in the coming days – dealing a fresh blow that could unravel the 2015 accord.
“If Europe is unable to make its commitment operational, Iran will take the third step in reducing its commitment as part of the JCPOA,” Rouhani said.
Softening his tone, Rouhani added: “Of course this step like the previous ones could be reversed.”
Iran is expected to further reduce its commitments on September 5.
The country is under extreme pressure from US sanctions, which have dragged Iranian oil exports down to just a few hundred thousand barrels per day – down from 2.5 million barrels per day in April 2018.
Iran began scaling back on its nuclear deal commitments in May and June this year after the US cancelled sanctions waivers to Iran’s eight main oil customers.
The remaining signatories of the JCPOA, led by France, Germany, and Britain have tried to save the deal by introducing a financial mechanism to lessen the impact of sanctions. However, the mechanism is yet to become fully operational.
“I would like to underline… our clear and strong position on our full support to the preservation of the full implementation of the JCPOA, the nuclear deal with Iran,” Federica Mogherini, the European Union’s foreign policy chief, said in statement Friday following an informal meeting of the EU foreign ministers.
“The European Union and its Member States continue to be fully behind it and are doing all they can to try to have this fundamental element of nuclear non-proliferation in place.”
Offering a glimmer of hope for a peaceful outcome, France’s Macron suggested earlier this week that a meeting was possible between Rouhani and US President Donald Trump after Iran’s Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif paid an unexpected visit to the G-7 meeting in Biarritz.
However, Rouhani said Washington must first lift all economic sanctions against Iran before negotiations can take place, while Iran’s ultimate decision maker, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, has categorically rejected talks with the US.
European leaders have appealed to Tehran not to drop further commitments to the nuclear deal. A quarterly report from the UN nuclear watchdog on Friday said Iran’s stockpile of enriched uranium has continued to grow beyond the limits imposed by the accord.
Rouhani told French President Emmanuel Macron that European failures to uphold the terms of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) after the United States withdrew in May 2018 had forced Tehran to roll back its own commitments.
“The full implementation of the commitments of both parties as part of JCPOA and maintaining freedom of navigation in all the straits including in the Persian Gulf and the Strait of Hormuz, are the two main goals of Iran in the current negotiation,” Rouhani told Macron in a telephone call, according to state media.
“Unfortunately after the unilateral action of America, the European countries did not take any step in the direction of implementing their commitments.”
France is the latest country to attempt to defuse tensions in the Persian Gulf following an escalating series of events including attacks on vessels, the shooting down of a US spy drone, and the seizure of a British-flagged tanker, which have raised the prospect of war between Iran and the US.
Rouhani warned the French president Iran will not shy away from taking further steps in reducing its commitments under the nuclear deal in the coming days – dealing a fresh blow that could unravel the 2015 accord.
“If Europe is unable to make its commitment operational, Iran will take the third step in reducing its commitment as part of the JCPOA,” Rouhani said.
Softening his tone, Rouhani added: “Of course this step like the previous ones could be reversed.”
Iran is expected to further reduce its commitments on September 5.
The country is under extreme pressure from US sanctions, which have dragged Iranian oil exports down to just a few hundred thousand barrels per day – down from 2.5 million barrels per day in April 2018.
Iran began scaling back on its nuclear deal commitments in May and June this year after the US cancelled sanctions waivers to Iran’s eight main oil customers.
The remaining signatories of the JCPOA, led by France, Germany, and Britain have tried to save the deal by introducing a financial mechanism to lessen the impact of sanctions. However, the mechanism is yet to become fully operational.
“I would like to underline… our clear and strong position on our full support to the preservation of the full implementation of the JCPOA, the nuclear deal with Iran,” Federica Mogherini, the European Union’s foreign policy chief, said in statement Friday following an informal meeting of the EU foreign ministers.
“The European Union and its Member States continue to be fully behind it and are doing all they can to try to have this fundamental element of nuclear non-proliferation in place.”
Offering a glimmer of hope for a peaceful outcome, France’s Macron suggested earlier this week that a meeting was possible between Rouhani and US President Donald Trump after Iran’s Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif paid an unexpected visit to the G-7 meeting in Biarritz.
However, Rouhani said Washington must first lift all economic sanctions against Iran before negotiations can take place, while Iran’s ultimate decision maker, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, has categorically rejected talks with the US.
European leaders have appealed to Tehran not to drop further commitments to the nuclear deal. A quarterly report from the UN nuclear watchdog on Friday said Iran’s stockpile of enriched uranium has continued to grow beyond the limits imposed by the accord.
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