Increasing gap between Iran and Europe threatens the survival of JCPOA

Tabnak – Almost one year after the US withdrawal from the 2015 nuclear deal with Iran (JCPOA), the European parties of the deal are yet to fulfil their commitments in providing Tehran with the economic benefits of the deal. While criticizing the insufficient European moves in this regard, the Islamic Republic reacts to the recent controversial positions made by France on Iran’s nuclear program.

In this vein, Iran has once again complained about a delay by European partners in the 2015 nuclear deal to make operational a non-dollar direct payment channel with Tehran, saying they now have "no excuse" for further postponement of the project.

Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif made the remarks on the sidelines of a ceremony to launch the ministry's Economic Diplomacy website in Tehran on Sunday.

The Europeans, Zarif said, introduced the Instrument in Support of Trade Exchange (INSTEX) as "a preliminary measure" - as part of their multiple commitments under the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) - following Washington’s withdrawal from the nuclear accord. In order to begin honoring their commitments, the Europeans were required to set up INSTEX, he explained.

An Iranian structure parallel to INSTEX, called the Special Trade and Finance Institute (STFI), was launched just last week, Zarif said, noting that the European signatories have no longer any excuse to delay the start of their job.

He also stressed that the European partners are "lagging behind" in fulfilling their commitments and "should not believe that the Islamic Republic will [continue to wait] for them."

The top diplomat further hailed mechanisms similar to INSTEX that were launched with Iran's neighbors and were operating in an optimum manner. "I wonder how much time do the Europeans need [to set up] a preliminary mechanism?" Zarif exclaimed.

Meanwhile, Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister for Political Affairs Seyed Abbas Araqchi deplored recent remarks by French Ambassador to the US Gerard Araud about the 2015 nuclear deal and said if they represent France’s position it would be a major violation of the agreement.

“If tweets by @GerardAraud represent French position, we're facing a major violation of the object and purpose of the JCPOA (Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action) and UNSCR 2231,” Araqchi said on his Twitter account on Monday. “Needs immediate clarification by Paris, or we act accordingly,” he added in his tweet.

It came several hours after Araud tweeted, “Russia is providing enriched uranium to the Busheer (sic) nuclear power plant. So there won’t be any conceivable reason for Iran to massively enriching uranium after the JCPOA.”

“As we said in 2002 that enriching uranium without a credible civilian program was illegal under the NPT, we’ll be able to react likewise in 2025 if necessary. Sanctions were imposed. Sanctions could be reimposed. There is no “sunset” after the JCPOA,” the French diplomat said in another tweet on Saturday night.

In May 2018, the US president pulled his country out of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), the nuclear deal that was achieved in Vienna in 2015 after years of negotiations among Iran and the Group 5+1 (Russia, China, the US, Britain, France and Germany).

Following the US withdrawal, Iran and the remaining parties launched talks to save the accord. However, with criticisms in Iran rising about the insufficiency of the European moves so far, there’s a growing possibility that Iran reviews its own commitments under the deal as a reaction to the other parties.