BAKU, Azerbaijan, July 10. Iran has the right to retaliate against the actions of the US and 3 European countries - the UK, France and Germany on the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), the Spokesman of the Iranian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Nasser Kanaani said at a press conference in Tehran on July 10, 2023, Trend reports.
“The actions of the US and European countries regarding the JCPOA are a continuation of the non-constructive and ineffective direction against Iran. These countries have damaged and rendered useless a multilateral plan for the settlement of important disputes. Instead of making accusations, European countries should be held accountable for their negligence in the JCPOA,” Kanaani said.
According to Kanaani, sanctions have been continuously used by the US and its European allies as an illegal act against Iran. Using these sanctions is illegal, violates the legal right of the Iranian people and violates human rights.
The spokesman added that in matters related to the JCPOA, both the US illegally withdrew from this plan, and the Europeans avoided fulfilling their obligations and did not eliminate the defect of the US in the plan.
“In particular, 3 European countries - the UK, France and Germany have been as negligent in fulfilling their obligations in the JCPOA as the US. Despite this situation, these European countries sit on the plaintiff's chair and make accusations against Iran and apply sanctions against Iran. However, all this is completely illegal," he noted.
On January 2016, Iran's nuclear program triggered the creation of JCPOA between Iran and the P5+1 group (US, Russia, China, UK, France, and Germany). In May 2018, the US announced its withdrawal from the deal and imposed sanctions on Iran in November of the same year. To preserve the agreements reached as part of the JCPOA, the European signatories of the deal started in January 2019 and a financial mechanism for maintaining trade with Iran called INSTEX was formed.
On May 8, 2019, Iran announced ceasing to fulfill its commitments regarding the sale of over 300 kilograms of uranium, as stated in the deal, basing its decision on the other signatories that have not fulfilled their obligations. On July 7, Iran announced that it will not be fulfilling its commitments regarding the enrichment of uranium at 3.67 percent and the reconstruction of the Arak Heavy Water Reactor Facility as stated in the deal.
On September 5 of the same year, Iran announced its commitment to enrich uranium using next-generation centrifuges and not to mix it with the enriched uranium residues as part of the third step of reducing commitments in JCPOA. On November 5, 2019, Iran announced to have taking the fourth step in connection with reducing its commitments to the nuclear agreement. So, uranium gas is being pumped to the centrifuges at the Fordow Fuel Enrichment Plant.
On Jan.2020, Iran took the last fifth step in reducing the number of its commitments within JCPOA.
On May 8, 2018, the US announced its withdrawal from the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) between Iran and the 5+1 group (Russia, China, the UK, France, the US, and Germany), and imposed new sanctions against Iran as of November 2018.
Over the past period, the sanctions affected Iranian oil exports, more than 700 banks, companies, and individuals. The sanctions have resulted in the freezing of Iranian assets abroad.
In late 2020, the Iranian parliament decided to implement a strategic plan to tackle the sanctions, citing the non-implementation of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) signed between Iran and six countries and the imposition of sanctions on Iran. According to the decision of the Iranian parliament, as of February 23, Iran suspended the implementation of additional steps and an additional protocol provided for in the nuclear deal. As result, the control mechanism of IAEA decreased by 20-30 percent. According to the decision of the Iranian parliament, 1,000 units of IR2M centrifuges have been installed.
---
Follow the author on Twitter:@BaghishovElnur