Iran Discloses Details of Macron’s Offer to Save JCPOA

In comments on Sunday, MP Ali Motahari said French President Emmanuel Macron has proposed establishing a $15 billion credit line for the advance purchase of Iranian oil.

He also dismissed the notion that the sum of money would be supplied to Iran as a donation or a loan.

The French have proposed to provide the money in three stages, the lawmaker noted, adding that Macron has called on Iran to refrain from taking the third step in exchange for the credit line and has probably urged that Iran should reverse the measures it has already taken in the first and second steps and should undertake the initial commitments under the JCPOA.

Tehran has rowed back on its nuclear commitments twice in compliance with articles 26 and 36 of the 2015 deal, after the US scrapped the agreement in May 2018 and the European parties (UK, France, and Germany) failed to ensure Iran’s economic interests.

As a first step Iran increased its enriched uranium stockpile to beyond the 300 kilograms set by the JCPOA. In the second step, Tehran began enriching uranium to purity rates beyond the JCPOA-limit of 3.76 percent.

The Islamic Republic maintains that all the measures are reversible, provided that the other parties fulfill their commitments.

In recent weeks, France has stepped up efforts to persuade Iran to avoid taking the third step.

A senior political-economic delegation headed by Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister for Political Affairs Seyyed Abbas Araqchi is going to visit Paris on Monday to discuss the French president’s offer.