Iran President Orders Suspension of R&D Limits in 3rd JCPOA Step

In comments after a meeting with the Parliament speaker and the Judiciary chief on Wednesday evening, President Rouhani announced that Iran’s third step in a phased reduction of commitments to the JCPOA will begin on Friday.

“For the third step, the Atomic Energy Organization (of Iran) must immediately start whatever the country needs technically in the (nuclear) research and development field, and must abandon all commitments under the JCPOA in the field of research and development,” the president said.

He noted that the AEOI is ordered to rapidly expand the research and development regarding various types of centrifuge machines and whatever is necessary for uranium enrichment.

The president explained that lifting such a limit will be a “big stride”, because a major part of negotiations with the P5+1 before reaching the JCPOA revolved around a timetable for R&D throughout the years to come.

“The whole timings of research and development that we had been committed to under the JCPOA will be totally lifted as of Friday, and we will be taking whatever is required in technical terms and in terms of progress in the nuclear technology, under the (International Atomic Energy) Agency’s supervision and within the framework of a peaceful approach,” the president added.

The remaining parties to the JCPOA will have another two months to come to an agreement with Iran, the president added, saying in that case, Tehran may resume honouring the JCPOA.

Iran has already 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.

Iran maintains that all the measures are reversible, provided that the other parties fulfill their commitments.