BAKU, Azerbaijan, October 18. The three European countries (the UK, France, and Germany) have failed to honor their commitments under the Comprehensive Joint Action Plan by not lifting arms embargoes against Iran, Vice President of Iran and Chief of the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran (AEOI), Mohammad Eslami, told reporters on October 18.
Eslami noted that according to UN Security Council Resolution No. 2231, arms embargoes against Iran should be lifted as of October 18, 2023.
The vice president added that the provision to lift arms embargoes in the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) does not apply to taking any action. The scheduled time ends today.
Iran's Deputy Foreign Minister for Political Affairs and Iran's chief nuclear negotiator, Ali Bagheri Kani, stated that there are no restrictions against Iran as of October 18, 2023, according to UN Security Council Resolution 2231. Within the mentioned resolution, all restrictions on the sale and purchase of ballistic missiles from and to Iran are ended.
On October 17, 2023, the European Council announced that it would maintain the sanctions on Iran despite the expiration of Transition Day under the 2015 nuclear deal. 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.
Transition Day, which was set for October 18, 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.
Under the JCPOA, Iran agreed to limit its nuclear activities in exchange for the lifting of international sanctions.
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.
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 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.
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