BAKU, Azerbaijan, October 17. The European
Council has announced that it will maintain the sanctions on Iran,
despite the expiration of the Transition Day under the 2015 nuclear
deal, Trend
reports.
The Council said that Iran has failed to comply with its
obligations under the agreement, and that the sanctions are
necessary to prevent the proliferation of nuclear weapons and
ballistic missiles.
The Transition Day, which was set for 18 October 2023, was supposed
to mark the end of the UN Security Council’s involvement in the
nuclear deal, also known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action
(JCPOA). Under the JCPOA, Iran agreed to limit its nuclear
activities in exchange for the lifting of international
sanctions.
However, the EU Council decided to maintain the restrictive
measures under its own non-proliferation regime on Iran, following
the reports by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) that
Iran has breached several key provisions of the JCPOA since 2019.
The Council also cited the letter from the foreign ministers of
France, Germany, and the UK, who invoked the dispute resolution
mechanism of the JCPOA in January 2020, and expressed their
readiness to reverse their decision if Iran returns to full
compliance.
On January 16, 2016, Iran's nuclear program triggered the creation of the JCPOA between Iran and the P5+1 group (US, Russia, China, UK, France, and Germany). However, 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.
The sanctions that will remain in place include the designations
of individuals and entities linked to Iran’s nuclear or missile
programs or to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), as
well as the embargoes on arms and missiles. The Council stressed
that these measures do not constitute new sanctions, and that all
other sanctions that were lifted under the JCPOA will stay
lifted.
The Council reaffirmed its commitment to the full implementation of
the JCPOA, and called on Iran to cooperate with the IAEA and
restore confidence in its peaceful nuclear intentions. The Council
also reiterated its support for diplomatic efforts to preserve and
strengthen the JCPOA, and urged all parties to refrain from actions
that could undermine its viability.
Iran has been seeking various ways to restart talks with the other parties on its nuclear issue and revive the JCPOA. The main goals of Iran are to end the sanctions imposed by the US and Western countries, access its funds frozen abroad, and resume its crude oil exports.
Iran claims that its nuclear program is for peaceful purposes only, but according to the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), Iran has increased its highly enriched uranium by 27 percent in the last three months, and currently has 4,745 kilograms of enriched uranium. This is 15 times more than the amount allowed for Iran in the JCPOA.