Tabnak – One year after the US withdrawal from the 2015 nuclear deal with Iran, European parties of the deal are yet to fulfill their commitments on providing Iran with the economic benefits of the JCPOA. This has led Iran to the conclusion that Europe even lacks political determination for this purpose.
Iran's Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif says a request by the British Middle East minister to delay the implementation of Europeans' non-dollar mechanism for trade with Iran shows their lack of genuine determination to abide by their commitments as per a 2015 nuclear deal with the Islamic Republic.
Zarif made the remarks on the sidelines of his tour of an exhibition on Monday when he was asked about Andrew Murrison’s request for the postponement of the European Union’s INSTEX mechanism -- officially called the Instrument in Support of Trade Exchanges -- during his recent visit to Tehran.
“Repeated delays with regard to the INSTEX [implementation] shows that Europeans neither have the power nor determination to implement their commitments [as per the nuclear deal with Iran, officially known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA)], but we will continue our [reciprocal] measures on the basis of Article 36 [of the accord],” Zarif said.
Also in a meeting with Murrison in Tehran on Sunday, Kamal Kharrazi, who serves as the head of Iran's Strategic Council on Foreign Relations, took to task the European signatories to the nuclear agreement for failing to fulfill their obligations, vowing that the Islamic Republic would suspend more commitments if they do not act seriously as per the accord.
"Be sure that if the opposite side does not carry out an appropriate measure within the next two weeks, we will take more steps to stop implementing our commitments," Kharrazi said.
In the same vein, Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister for Political Affairs Seyyed Abbas Araqchi said in Sunday that Iran is now convinced that the Europeans’ political unwillingness, and NOT their inability, is to blame for their failure to fulfill their commitments under the 2015 agreement.
“We are convinced that Europe’s lack of commitment to its JCPOA undertakings was not because of its incapability, but lack of determination," Araqchi said. "Europe is not ready to pay any cost for preserving the JCPOA," he added.
"The European companies dare not to disobey the US Treasury Department’s orders, which means Europe’s lack of sovereignty, even inside its own borders,” Araqchi added.
US President Donald Trump pulled his country out of the JCPOA, reached between Iran and the five permanent members of the United Nations Security Council plus Germany, in May 2018 and re-imposed harsh sanctions against the Islamic Republic in defiance of global criticisms, leaving the future of the historic deal in limbo.
Critical of Washington’s move, the European parties to the JCPOA vowed efforts to keep the deal in place by protecting Tehran against the US sanctions, but did little in practice.
