TEHRAN, July 16 (NNN-IRNA) — UK Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs said not only EU member states but Russia and China were also keen on preserving the Iran nuclear deal also known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA).
Referring to the European Union (EU) Foreign Affairs Council’s discussions on the Iranian nuclear deal in Brussels on Monday, Jeremy Hunt wrote the following on his Twitter account.
“Important discussions with EU colleagues, including @JY_LeDrian and @ministerBlok about Iran: we support nuclear deal but there can be no ‘partial’ compliance. You are either on path to a nuclearised Middle East or not.”
Hunt reiterated: “Remember not just Europe supporting it but Russia and China too.”
He said that there was a “small” but “closing window” to preserve the deal.
Before the meeting, EU’s Federica Mogherini said that the options to convince Iran to come back to the deal will be discussed.
France, Germany and UK in a joint statement expressed concerns over the outlook of a failed nuclear deal.
“We believe that the time has come to act responsibly and to look for ways to stop the escalation of tension and resume dialogue,” they said.
Europe has been criticized by Tehran for its inaction in face of the US unilateral withdrawal from the nuclear deal. Iran’s Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif said it was not enough that Europe expressed interest in the saving the deal, urging it to walk the talk.
The 2015 Iran nuclear agreement was considered as an important instrument to prevent a nuclear-armed Iran. However, in May, 2018, Washington unilaterally abandoned the deal and restarted sanctions on Iran.
On May 8, Iran stopped implementing some of its commitments under the deal, and set a 60-day deadline for the Europeans to help Iran reap the economic benefits of the deal. When the deadline expired on July 7, Tehran said, it was prepared to begin enriching uranium beyond the limit of 3.67 percent of purity, set out in the deal.
On July 8, Iran announced that it had raised the concentration of its enriched uranium to 4.5 percent.
–NNN-IRNA
