Europe Fails to Fulfill Pledges under JCPOA: Iran Envoy to France

Qassemi noted the Iran nuclear agreement known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) was a historic and effective achievement that was gained thanks to efforts by, and marathon talks between UN Security Council members plus Germany and Iran.

“The JCPOA showed once again that diplomacy is the art of overcoming some problems in a bid to prevent the outbreak of war and tension,” he said in a meeting with students at a political studies institute in Paris.

“The result of two years of intense talks was not only success for Iran, but also a victory for world politics with regards to multilateralism,” said the top Iranian diplomat.

“Unfortunately, we are seeing that with a change of government and a new ruling elite coming to power in the United States, this country changed tack in dealing with global issues and adopted the policy of unilateralism, and not only withdrew from the JCPOA, but, in an unprecedented move, urged other countries, too, to breach international agreements and threatened to impose sanctions on them if they complied with UN Security Council resolutions,” he said.

“Over the past year, Iran has made good on its JCPOA obligations as confirmed by the International Atomic Energy Agency 14 times, and has remained in the deal upon the recommendation of European countries,” said Qassemi.

“Of course, the European countries have undertaken to make the necessary arrangements such as the Instrument in Support of Trade Exchanges (INSTEXT) in order for Iran to reap the economic benefits of the JCPOA, and both sides are following up and implementing measures in that regard. However, we expect this trend to gather pace,” he said.

He underlined that the European countries have not yet been able to deliver on their commitments under the JCPOA, so the quick steps and measures of some European countries will be a very serious and determining yardstick against which Iran would adopt its policies. He said the Europeans’ behaviour is being monitored precisely.

During his speech, Qassemi also elaborated on the measures Iran has adopted to maintain stability in the region, fight terrorism and cooperate with other countries.