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Iran
Iran’s foreign ministry spokesperson Nasser Kanaani holding a press conference in Tehran on July 13, 2022. Photo: Atta Kenare/AFP
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ERBIL, Kurdistan Region – Iran on Saturday slammed a joint statement by European superpowers, criticizing Iran for escalating its nuclear program, labelling it as “deviant”.
“It is surprising and regrettable that in a situation where the diplomatic interactions and exchange of messages between the negotiating parties and the coordinator of the talks for the final negotiations are going on, three European countries issue such a statement in a deviant manner and far from a fruitful approach in the negotiations,” Iran’s foreign ministry spokesperson Nasser Kanaani said.
Kanaani’s statement came after a joint statement by the UK, France, and Germany criticized Iran earlier in the day, saying that Tehran “continues to escalate its nuclear program way beyond any plausible civilian justification.”
“The three European countries are advised to provide a solution to end the dispute instead of entering the phase of destroying the diplomatic process,” Kanaani added.
The statement from the European superpowers came after a Wednesday report from the United Nations’ nuclear watchdog said that they were "not in a position to provide assurance that Iran's nuclear programme is exclusively peaceful".
Tehran dismissed the report as “baseless” on Thursay, but it has already hit a blow to over a year of talks between Iran and western super powers to bring Iran back to full compliance with the landmark nuclear deal.
The Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) was signed between Britain, China, France, Germany, Iran, Russia, and the United States in 2015, offering Iran sanctions relief in exchange for curbs on its nuclear program that it rapidly advanced following former US president Donald Trump's unilateral withdrawal from the deal in 2018, sparking concerns that Iran is seeking to develop an atomic bomb.
However Iran has on several occasions said that their nuclear program only serves a peaceful purpose.
Last month, the EU put forward what it labeled as the final text to restore the 2015 agreement, and despite everyone claiming that a final deal was closer than ever, the joint statement on Saturday said that given Iran’s failure to conclude the deal on the table, the European powers “will consult, alongside international partners, on how best to address Iran’s continued nuclear escalation and lack of cooperation with the IAEA (International Atomic Energy Agency)”.
However Kanaani expressed Tehran’s will to still reach a final agreement.
“Iran still has the will and readiness to finalize the agreement, and believes that if there is the necessary will and avoiding external pressures, it is possible to reach an agreement quickly,” he said.
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